Rand strengthens under R15/$ as Turkish lira firms

The rand strengthened under R15/$ for the first time in a week on Wednesday as the dollar traded marginally weaker and the Turkish lira firmed. 

The local currency opened the day's trade at R15.05/$ and was changing hands at R14.98 to the greenback at 15:15, up 0.5% on the day. 

The Turkish lira, meanwhile, firmed by 1.5% against the dollar by the early afternoon ahead of a Turkish central bank interest rate announcement on Thursday. 

The dollar index - which tracks the dollar's relative strength against a basket of currencies - was at 95.12 at 15.03, down 0.12%. 

The rand has made up some of the losses it suffered at the beginning of last week, when it fell to below R15.60/$ in the wake of SA's recession, weakness in the Turkish lira, dollar strength and concerns around SA's land reform programme.

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