The rand firmed against a softer dollar in early stages Friday, with investor appetite towards emerging markets lifted by renewed moves by Washington and Beijing to tackle their trade dispute plus a rate hike in crisis-hit Turkey.
At 0645 GMT the rand was 0.56% stronger at 14.70 per dollar than the close of 14.78 in Nyc.
The Turkish lira firmed 0.95% every day right after the central bank raised its benchmark rate by 625 basis points.
Read: Turkish lira eases after hefty central bank rate hike
The transfer to Turkey halted a deep selloff inside the lira which in fact had dragged down other emerging market currencies as risk demand wilted on fears of contagion.
Risk appetite have also been soothed by Chinese officials welcoming an invitation from Us Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for new trade talks.
Moody’s comment in the conference in Johannesburg on Thursday that it was unlikely to cut Pretoria’s foreign debt to non-investment grade, despite last week’s surprise slide into recession, additionally supported the rand.
Bonds were firmer, with the yield over the benchmark paper due in 2026 falling 3.5 basis suggests 9.085%.
Stocks were set to start higher at 0700 GMT, using the JSE securities exchange’s Top 40 Futures index up 0.5%.?