Johannesburg – The rand gained further ground against leading currencies in late trade on Friday‚ breaking below R8.90/$‚ tracking a firmer euro/dollar.
At 15:56‚ the rand was bid at R8.8946/$ from Thursday’s close of R8.9335. The local currency was bid at R11.4928/€ from its previous close of R11.4878 and at R14.1720 against sterling from R14.2272 before. The euro was bid at $1.2928‚ from Thursday’s close of $1.2873.
The euro vs greenback strength was supported by a stronger-than-expected monthly survey of German businesses by the Ifo Institute‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The closely-watched Ifo business confidence index rose to 101.4 in November from 100.0 in October‚ the first rise after six straight months of decline.