Rand stronger but still near 13-year low

Johannesburg - The rand traded slightly stronger against the dollar early on Thursday, but still held near a 13-year low and traders said the currency should keep recouping some of this week's steep losses.

At 08:13 the rand was trading 0.26% firmer at R12.2580 to the dollar from its Wednesday closing level of R12.2895.

Since Friday, the rand has dropped to its weakest levels since 2002 after a sell-off of emerging market currencies.

Riskier assets came pressure after robust US employment data increased expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise rates in the middle of this year.

READ: US jobs market flexes muscle as Feb payrolls soar

"Given the move in currency markets since last Friday, I think we are due another day of consolidation as the market tries to find its feet," Warrick Butler of Standard Bank said in a note.

"We need liquidity to come back into the market in order for the spreads and daily ranges to narrow and hopefully with the local mid-month activity due this will hopefully be the case."

Statistics South Africa releases mining and factory production data for January later in the day.

In fixed income, the yield for the 2026 benchmark was down 4 basis points to 7.860%.