(Corrects closing percentage rise in paragraph 9 to 0.91% from 91%)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s rand firmed on Wednesday, holding on to gains from the previous session as signs of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks lifted risk appetite.
At 1434 GMT, the rand traded at around 14.4709 against the dollar, 0.4% firmer than Tuesday’s close, and extending a five-month high hit on Friday.
Negotiators from Russia and Ukraine met in Turkey late on Tuesday to discuss a peace deal, where Russia promised to scale down military operations around Kyiv and another city, and Ukraine proposed adopting a neutral status.
This supported riskier but high-yielding emerging market assets including the rand and dragged on the dollar as investors felt less in need of a safe-haven.
The rand has strengthened almost 10% this year, making it one of the best performing emerging market currencies, according to Refinitiv data, as it benefits from rising commodity prices alongside other exporters including Angola, Brazil and Chile.
“The rand has managed to hold its ground, despite ongoing geopolitical issues,” RMB analysts said in a note.
Data showed on Tuesday that South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to a record high of 35.3% in the fourth quarter of 2021 as sectors such as manufacturing and construction shed jobs.
Government bond prices dropped, with the yield on the benchmark 2030 maturity up 8.5 basis points to 9.590%, after falling earlier in the day.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top-40 Index rose 0.91% to 68,530 points and the broader All-Share Index gained 0.87% to 75,425 points.
Miners pulled the blue-chip index higher, bolstered by rising prices of precious metals such as gold and platinum.
Northam Platinum Holdings was the biggest winner of the day, climbing almost 9%, followed by Impala Platinum, Sibanye-Stillwater and Anglo American Platinum, up 6.7%, 6% and 5.8% respectively.
(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Rachel Savage; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Vinay Dwivedi)
