JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand strengthened on Monday as markets awaited the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks.
At 1515 GMT, the rand traded at 17.7125 against the dollar, about 0.2% stronger than Friday’s close and extending last week’s gains.
Officials from the U.S.
and China were in London for a meeting to address disagreements around a preliminary trade deal struck last month that briefly cooled tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The rand was also supported by strong prices for precious metals like platinum and gold, analysts said.
Domestic economic data to be released this week include April manufacturing output on Tuesday and April mining production on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the lower house of parliament will vote on the fiscal framework and revenue proposals, the first pieces of budget legislation delayed by months of political wrangling.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top-40 index closed up 0.1%.
The benchmark 2035 government bond was weaker, as the yield rose 9.5 basis points to 10.155%.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov and Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Alexander Winning and Bernadette Baum)
