JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand gained on Tuesday afternoon as the central bank highlighted inflation risks in a biannual review of its monetary policy stance.
Asked about those risks, Governor Lesetja Kganyago said the bank stood ready to act if it saw them materialising.
At 1616 GMT, the rand was at 14.9875 against the dollar, up around 0.3pc from its previous close after trading weaker on the day before the Monetary Policy Review was published.
The rand's gains came despite the safe-haven dollar edging higher, as traders remained cautious ahead of a key payrolls report at the end of the week that could provide clues about the U.S. Federal Reserve's next move.
Investors are also concerned that ongoing debt troubles at Chinese property developer Evergrande could hurt an already fragile Chinese economy and drag on global growth.
South Africa's rand falls as China Evergrande anxiety saps risk appetite
Earlier on Tuesday, a survey showed business conditions in Africa's most industrialised nation improved in September for the first time since June.
A rally in beaten down technology companies and a 10.73pc jump in Exxaro Resources, South Africa's biggest coal miner, pushed the country's major stock indexes higher.
The tech sector jumped 1.99pc, led by technology investor Naspers Ltd, which indirectly holds around 30pc stake in Chinese company Tencent. Global peers also rallied as investors moved into growth names.
Higher coal prices and increased demand particularly from Asia due to a post-pandemic recovery boosted Exxaro, which exports high-quality coal to countries such as India and China, the two biggest importers of coal.
Other coal miners such as Johannesburg listed Glencore rose 3.09pc.
Overall the FTSE/JSE All-share index rose by 0.65pc and the FTSE/JSE Top-40 companies' index ended up 0.59pc.
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