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JOHANNESBURG — South African markets rose across the board on Friday, after weaker than expected US jobs data reduced prospects of an imminent rate hike in the world’s largest economy, sending investors on the hunt for high-yielding but riskier assets.
The rand scaled a session high of 14.3600 to the greenback after the US data, but retreated to 14.4600 by 1508 GMT. This was still up 0.97 percent from Thursday’s close at 14.6015 in New York.
“It now seems less likely that there will be an interest rate hike in September, so people will be looking for yield in emerging markets,” said Cratos Capital equities trader Greg Davies.
The rand is however still down 7 percent against the dollar since August 23, weighed down by fears that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan could be charged over the activities of a surveillance unit set up when he was head of the tax department, which police say illegally spied on politicians.
Government bonds also closed firmer, with the yield on debt maturing in 2026, the market benchmark, shedding 6.5 basis points to 8.94 percent. — Reuters
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