South Africa's rand up

South Africa's rand firmed on Thursday after the country's cabinet approved the promulgation of its long-delayed plan for electricity generation amid nationwide power cuts by state utility Eskom. At 1535 GMT, the rand was 1% firmer at 14.7900 per dollar. The Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2019) will replace a previous blueprint not updated for almost a decade, and deals with electricity generation and the energy mix South Africa will rely on in the immediate future.

Equities fell, with the broader Johannesburg All-share index down 0.17% to 55,993 points, while the blue chip Top-40 index edged 0.28% lower to 49,715 points. Diversified miners were among the losers, with Anglo American down 1.27% to 360.54 rand, while BHP Group shed 2.010% to 305.93 rand. The yield on the benchmark government bond due in 2026 fell 1.3 basis points to 8.26%.