Johannesburg — South Africa’s rand firmed in early trade on Friday, helped by a weaker dollar and strong Chinese data.
At 0648 GMT, the rand traded at 18.1475 against the dollar, 0.36% firmer than its previous close.
The dollar was down more than 0.2% against a basket of global currencies as traders tried to gauge the path for Federal Reserve policy.
Taking some steam out of the dollar were comments from Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic overnight that “slow and steady is going to be the appropriate course of action,” despite new labour figures adding to the run of strong data of late.
ETM Analytics said in a note that the sentiment towards risk markets has improved slightly due to the Chinese services PMI that lifted the mood on Asian equity markets.
Activity in China’s services sector expanded at the fastest pace in six months in February as the removal of tough COVID-19 restrictions revived customer demand, driving a solid increase in employment, a private sector survey showed on Friday.
The government’s benchmark 2030 bond was stronger in early deals, with the yield down 2.5 basis points to 10.150%.
*Anait Miridzhanian; Editing: Sonia Cheema – Reuters
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