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Johannesburg - The rand hit a three-month high against the dollar on Friday, gaining in a knee-jerk reaction to a US jobs report that slightly missed market expectations,and taking bond yields lower.
The currency hit its strongest in the session after a US labour report showed the world's biggest economy added 8 000 less non-farm jobs than forecast, disappointing some market players who had expected a strong rebound from poor weather conditions.
The rand was up 1% at R10.5440/$ by 15:52 GMT, coming back from a session best of R10.5020/$, levels last seen on January 2.
It was the second best performing unit, after the Brazilian real, in a basket of emerging market currencies trading against the dollar and tracked by Reuters, after days of underperforming its peers.
"The rand is just testing R10.50/$. All emerging markets seem to be doing quite well on the back of this non-farm payroll announcement," Jim Bryson, currency trader at Rand Merchant Bank said, adding that a break through R10.48/$ resistance would open up further gains for the rand.
The local unit has previously found the 10.47-50 area a tough level to get beyond.
Government bonds tracked the currency higher, with the 2026 benchmark yield down 11.5 basis points to 8.405%, while the shorter date 2015 note gave up 5.5 basis points to 6.735%.
The currency hit its strongest in the session after a US labour report showed the world's biggest economy added 8 000 less non-farm jobs than forecast, disappointing some market players who had expected a strong rebound from poor weather conditions.
The rand was up 1% at R10.5440/$ by 15:52 GMT, coming back from a session best of R10.5020/$, levels last seen on January 2.
It was the second best performing unit, after the Brazilian real, in a basket of emerging market currencies trading against the dollar and tracked by Reuters, after days of underperforming its peers.
"The rand is just testing R10.50/$. All emerging markets seem to be doing quite well on the back of this non-farm payroll announcement," Jim Bryson, currency trader at Rand Merchant Bank said, adding that a break through R10.48/$ resistance would open up further gains for the rand.
The local unit has previously found the 10.47-50 area a tough level to get beyond.
Government bonds tracked the currency higher, with the 2026 benchmark yield down 11.5 basis points to 8.405%, while the shorter date 2015 note gave up 5.5 basis points to 6.735%.
