Rand halts losses, still vulnerable

Johannesburg - The rand recovered on Friday following a week of heavy losses triggered by devaluation of the yuan by China and a stronger dollar.

By 17:30 GMT the rand edged 0.05% firmer to R12.8005 per dollar, soothed by signs that China's central bank had ceased pushing its currency lower to revive its slowing economy.

The rand wound up paring losses after tumbling to a new 14-year low of R12.8895.

The rand shed close to 2% this week, edging nearer to the R13 psychological mark against the dollar, as it consistently failed to hold breaks below R12.80.

"Technical barriers around the psychological R13 per dollar mark will continue to be tested in the run-up to an expected start of US monetary policy normalisation next month," analysts at research house NKC African Economics wrote.

The dollar rose after July producer prices grew 0.2%, which may give the US Federal Reserve room to raise interest rates at its September policy meeting.

Yields on bonds ticked up, with the benchmark paper due in 2026 adding 1 basis point to 8.175%.