Rand firms after Ramaphosa announces $14.7 bln China investment

South Africa’s rand firmed more than 1% on Tuesday to a three day best following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that China would invest $14.7 billion (R195 billion) in the local economy, spurring some offshore demand for the currency.

At 11:00 GMT the rand had firmed 1.06% to 13.3300 per dollar, its firmest since Thursday.

“We saw some dollar weakness at the start of the day, and there was a also a big technical support level at 13.40 that triggered some stops. The news that China would invest in the local economy has supported some foreign inflows,” said senior trader at Standard Bank Oliver Alwar.