The rand firmed resistant to the dollar on Friday, supported by a pick up in risk-taking, while banks topped the blue-chip index after Morgan Stanley raised their target prices.
At 1539 GMT, the rand traded at 13.60 per dollar, 0.87% firmer than its Big apple close of 13.71 on Thursday.
The rand also found support with a weaker dollar as concerns in regards to a prolonged US government shutdown, at any given time when global growth has already been slowing, weighed on the greenback.
The dollar index, a gauge of their value versus six major peers, fell 0.58% to 96.037.
“The rand began a few days around the backfoot following the IMF trimmed its global growth forecasts. This prompted risk-averse investors to select safety with the greenback,” said economists at NKC African Economics in a very note.
“However, the rand remained resilient, despite volatile US dollar movements, recovering earlier losses to publish an additional consecutive weekly gain.”
In fixed income, bonds moved consistent with a greater rand, with all the yield around the benchmark government bond due in 2026 dropping 10 basis points to 8.71%.
In the equities market, banks topped the gainers over the Top-40 blue chip index after Morgan Stanley raised target prices for Standard Bank, Absa group, Firstrand Ltd and Nedbank Group Ltd.
The banks index climbed 2.51%, hitting an 8-1/2-month high.
Standard Bank rose 3.69% to R194.94, Absa gained 2.56% to R180, Firstrand climbed 1.57% to R70.61, while Nedbank was up 2.90% to R288.27.
The Johannesburg All-share index has long been pressurized through the week as a result of concerns of an weaker global economic outlook and recurring uncertainty over the US-China trade war.
“Nevertheless, stronger performing Asian stock markets provided impetus to local equity prices,” economists at NKC African Economics said.
The all-share index ended the week 0.77% stronger, as the top-40 index closed 0.88% firmer.
On pricey, food and beverage company AVI Ltd was the best decliner, closing 8.68% after it reported a marginal increase in half-year group revenue, blaming continued pressure on consumer spending.?
