JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s rand firmed against the dollar on Thursday, as U.S. weekly jobless claims data pointed to a cooling off in the labour market, easing worries about harsher Federal Reserve rate hikes next year.
At 1559 GMT, the risk-sensitive rand traded at 16.8875 against the dollar, 1.2% stronger than its previous close.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rivals, was down 0.364% at 103.97.
On the stock market, the Top-40 and the broader all-share indexes ended almost 1% lower.
South African government’s benchmark 2030 bond prices weakened in afternoon deals, with the yield up 1.5 basis points to 10.255%.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya and Anait MiridzhanianEditing by Vinay Dwivedi and Richard Chang)
