JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – The South African rand extended gains from the previous session on Tuesday as China’s pledges to increase support for its sputtering economy boosted risk appetite globally.
At 1534 GMT, the rand traded at 17.6150 against the dollar, about 0.7% stronger than its closing level on Monday.
The rand is up more than 6% this month against the U.S. currency, recovering further from a record low struck in early June.
“Buoyed by Chinese optimism after the global superpower pledged to provide stimulus for the flailing economy, bolstering the traditional positive relationship it maintains with the rand,” DailyFX analyst, Warren Venketas, said in research note.
China’s top leaders pledged on Monday to step up help for the economy amid a tortuous post-COVID recovery and signalled that there would be more to come for the property industry.
On the stock market, the Top-40 and the broader all-share indices both rose almost 1%.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker, with the yield up 2.5 basis points to 10.285%.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning and Anait Miridzhanian, Editing by Louise Heavens and Angus MacSwan)
