JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s rand was slightly stronger early on Friday, in line with other emerging-market currencies, which have slowly restored gains after recent sharp losses.
The rand has gained more than 1 percent since the end of last week, defying expectations that it would see selling pressure after another U.S. interest rate rise.
The rand is expected to trade between 13.9500 and 14.2500 to the dollar on Friday, NKC African Economics wrote in a note.
South Africa-focused investors were awaiting the release of August’s trade balance data at 1200 GMT.
In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark government bond due in 2026 rose 1 basis points to 9.000 percent.
Stocks opened slightly weaker, with the top-40 index down 0.2 percent in early trade.
South Africa’s rand was slightly stronger early on Friday, in line with other emerging-market currencies.
Meanwhile, data released on Thursday by Statistics South Africa showed that producer price inflation (PPI) reached its highest level since December 2016 in August, increasing 6.3 points on a yearly basis.
The August inflation print was also above market expectations of a 5.95 percent gain.
On a month-on-month basis, the PPI increased 0.6 percent against a market consensus of a 0.45 percent increase.
- REUTERS