Rand firms against the dollar

South Africa’s rand holds on to its rally against the greenback in early trade on Thursday.

Johannesburg - South Africa's rand firmed against the dollar early on Thursday, holding on to its three-and-a-half-month high against the greenback, as receding worries of near-term US interest rate hikes buoy investors' appetite for riskier asset.

At 06h54 GMT, the rand traded at 14.9100 per dollar, 0.23 percent firmer from Wednesday's New York of 14.9445.

Read: SA's rand extends rally

The currency rallied to its best since mid-December on Wednesday after emerging markets were buoyed by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's comments that the US central bank should be cautious in raising interest rates.

“Further gains will be limited as traders wait for US payrolls report tomorrow, though Yellen's cautious demeanour will keep emerging markets on front foot for while,” NKC African Economics said in a note.

Locally, focus was on the Constitutional court ruling on whether President Jacob Zuma should pay back some of the R240 million ($16 million) spent by the state on renovating his private Nkandla home, as well as a raft of data releases such as February trade numbers.

Stocks were set to open lower at 07h00 GMT, with the JSE securities exchange's Top-40 futures index down 0.5 percent.

In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark instrument due in 2026 was down 1.5 basis points to 9.16 percent.

REUTERS