JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand firmed on Wednesday after of December retail sales figures, having weakened more than 1% against the dollar the day before.
At 1504 GMT, the rand traded at 19.0900 against the dollar, about 0.3% stronger than its previous close.
The dollar was down about 0.06% against a basket of global currencies. It had reached a three-month peak on Tuesday after U.S. inflation rose more than expected, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates in March.
South African retail sales rose 2.7% year on year in December, a surprise after economists polled by Reuters had expected them to fall by 0.7%.
On a month-on-month basis, sales increased 1.4%, Statistics South Africa figures showed on Wednesday.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index closed 0.1% lower. South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker, with the yield up 5.5 basis points to 10.165%.
(Reporting by Nellie Peyton, Editing by Alexander Winning and Angus MacSwan)
