JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand strengthened on Thursday, boosted by optimism that U.S. President Donald Trump would seal trade deals with major partners after he announced a first agreement with Britain.
U.S. and Chinese officials are set for trade talks on Saturday in a meeting that investors hope will start to dial down the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
At 1522 GMT the rand traded at 18.1650 against the dollar, up about 0.6% on Wednesday’s closing level.
“As Trump looks to make a deal with the UK, and U.S.-China trade discussions are set for the weekend, we have seen an improvement in risk sentiment,” said Shaun Murison, senior market analyst at IG.
After a strong run recently, Murison noted that on Thursday the rand had reached its best levels against the dollar since late March.
Domestic economic data on Thursday was mixed.
Net foreign reserves rose to $64.318 billion at the end of April from $63.167 billion in March. But manufacturing output fell 0.8% year on year in March, contrary to expectations for growth.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top-40 index closed down 0.6%.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Alexander Winning)
