Johannesburg – The rand rallied to its best level in two weeks against the US dollar on Thursday‚ spurred by a renewed global risk-on environment amid revived hopes of progress on the US fiscal cliff talks.
At 11:54‚ the rand was bid at R8.7641/$ from Wednesday’s close of R8.8190. The local currency was bid at R11.3761 to the euro from its previous close of R11.4186 and at R14.0425 against sterling from R14.1167 before.
The euro was bid at $1.2987‚ from $1.2951 at its previous close.
“The key support level for the rand is now at R8.75 to the US dollar‚” a local trader said.
The latest optimism on the fiscal cliff talks was fuelled by John Boehner‚ the house speaker and effective Republican leader‚ who expressed optimism that a deal could be reached‚ RMB analysts said.