At 1500 GMT the rand was 0.48pc firmer at 14.5000 per dollar, its strongest level since Feb. 24 and poised to reach a one-year high as the bullish case gathered momentum.
A weaker yuan and shrinking premiums over US debt drove foreign investors to reduce their holdings of Chinse sovereign debt in March, the first monthly drop in more than two years.
All three major U.S. stock indexes gained some ground and the S&P 500 and the Dow were last in positive territory, with economically-sensitive small caps and transports lagging.
The U.S. Dollar Currency Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was 0.181% lower at 92.473. The index fell as low as 92.134 earlier in the session.
Profits for companies on the STOXX 600 are expected to jump 47.4pc in the first quarter versus beaten-down numbers a year earlier, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was steady at $62.75 a barrel, but that did not keep the Russian currency and stocks from falling in the past few days.