South Africa's rand and stocks lifted by US-China trade truce

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand firmed more than 1 percent against a softer dollar on Monday, in line with emerging markets and a fall in bond yields, as a temporary trade truce agreement between U.S. and Chinese leaders supported demand for riskier assets.

Stocks surged along with global markets on the news that the two countries agreed to halt additional tariffs on each other.

The rand was trading at 13.7075 per dollar by 1500 GMT, 1.05 percent firmer than its close on Friday of 13.8500. The currency touched an intraday low of 13.5800.

Government bonds also firmed, with the yield on the benchmark bond due in 2026 falling 3 basis points to 8.910 percent.

"The rand appreciated markedly at the start of Monday's session, outperforming other EMEA currencies in the aftermath of the U.S.-China trade war truce news. We expect the currency to continue to strengthen in the next few days," said Continuum Economics in a note.

The White House said on Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to keep the trade war from escalating by pledging to halt imposition of new tariffs for 90 days, while continuing to work on a long-lasting agreement in the given period.

On the local front, South Africa's seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose for the first time in three months to 49.5 in November from 42.4 in October, supported by an uptick in new orders and business activity.

"The PMI survey reflected that conditions in the manufacturing sector improved to an essentially neutral level of 49.5 in November, from a depressed reading of 42.4 in October," said Investec in a note.

In equities, the All Share index was 3.17 percent higher at 52,270 points while the blue chip Top 40 index  was 3.58 percent firmer at 46,254 points.

Bourse heavyweight Naspers rose 4.54 percent to 2,889 rand while Petrochemicals group Sasol jumped 6.82 percent to 43.40 rand at the top of the blue chip index as oil prices were given an additional boost ahead of an OPEC meeting during which oil supply is expected to be cut.