JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand edged firmer on Thursday along with fellow emerging currencies as risk assets regained favour after minutes from the United States central bank dampened bets of an interest rate hike this year.
Stocks were lifted by financials with Standard Bank at the head after reporting better than expected results.
By 1600 GMT the rand was 0.2 percent firmer at 13.3455 per dollar, compared with the close at 13.3700 overnight in New York.
A lack of local economic data releases saw the unit trade in a narrow band for most of the session as it struggled to gain momentum through technical resistance near 13.3000.
"The minutes can't be said to have surprised anyone but there is still relief that the Fed did not take a more hawkish tone. So the party continues and risk assets can resume their rally," currency strategist Rand Merchant Bank John Cairns said in a note.
U.S. central bank minutes showed the Federal Open Market Committee generally upbeat about the U.S. economic outlook, with some policymakers saying, however, a slowdown in the future pace of jobs growth argued against a near-term hike.
Government bonds were flat, with the yield on benchmark government issue due in 2026 adding 0.5 basis points to 8.41 percent.
On the stock market, most bluechips closed in the black, with Standard Bank the best performer.
Its shares gained 7.3 percent to 153.00 rand after the bank reported a 5 percent increase in half-year profit, while analysts on Thomson Reuters Smart Estimates had forecast only a slight rise.
Fashion retailer Truworths International weighed on the bourse, its shares down 8.2 percent to 84.00 rand, after its full-year profit fell short of estimates.
The benchmark Top-40 index was 1.49 percent firmer at 46,063 points while the All-Share index was up 1.3 percent at 52,989 points.
Trade was muted with around 196 million shares changing hands, compared with last year's daily average of 296 million, according to preliminary bourse data.
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