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Johannesburg - The rand ticked up to a near three-week high against the dollar on Friday as news that striking workers at Anglo Platinum [JSE:AMS] (Amplats) have returned to work lifted sentiment.
By 08:52 the local currency traded 0.3% firmer on the day at R9.8760/$ after briefly touching R9.8700, the strongest since September 25, according to Reuters data.
A spokesperson for Amplats said miners started returning to work after the company clinched a deal with their union to end a near two-week strike over job cuts.
Emerging market currencies like the rand were also boosted by signs of an imminent resolution to the US budget impasse which has kept investor appetite for risky assets restrained.
"If there is a deal, it would bring to an end a period of intense uncertainty. Of course, this might all have to be repeated in a few weeks, but the markets will nevertheless be much relived," Rand Merchant Bank currency analyst John Cairns said in a note to clients.
Government bond yields tracked the rand firmer, and yields, which move inversely to prices, pulled back.
The 2026 benchmark bond was yielding 2.5 basis points lower at 7.945% from Thursday's close, while the shorter-dated 2015 paper shaved off four basis points to 5.935%.
By 08:52 the local currency traded 0.3% firmer on the day at R9.8760/$ after briefly touching R9.8700, the strongest since September 25, according to Reuters data.
A spokesperson for Amplats said miners started returning to work after the company clinched a deal with their union to end a near two-week strike over job cuts.
Emerging market currencies like the rand were also boosted by signs of an imminent resolution to the US budget impasse which has kept investor appetite for risky assets restrained.
"If there is a deal, it would bring to an end a period of intense uncertainty. Of course, this might all have to be repeated in a few weeks, but the markets will nevertheless be much relived," Rand Merchant Bank currency analyst John Cairns said in a note to clients.
Government bond yields tracked the rand firmer, and yields, which move inversely to prices, pulled back.
The 2026 benchmark bond was yielding 2.5 basis points lower at 7.945% from Thursday's close, while the shorter-dated 2015 paper shaved off four basis points to 5.935%.
