FRUITFUL DAY FOR RAND, STOCKS

THE RAND and stocks gained yesterday, in line with other emerging markets as hopes the US and China could reach a trade deal boosted risk sentiment.

At 5pm, the rand bid at R13.8846 to the dollar, 2 cents stronger than at the same time on Tuesday.

The rand’s gains were linked to growing optimism that the world’s two largest economies will strike a deal to avoid an all-out confrontation that would severely disrupt global trade, said Halen Bothma, a market analyst at ETM.

“Market is still very much interested in a few big themes, one is the Fed (US Federal Reserve), one is trade talks between China and the US and the third, I would say, is global growth,” he said.

Officials of the US and China continued trade talks in Beijing for an unscheduled third day, amid signs of progress on issues including purchases of US farm and energy commodities as well as increased access to China’s markets.

In fixed income, government bonds also firmed, with the yield on the benchmark instrument maturing in 2026 down 1 basis point to 8.75 percent.

Stocks were broadly in the black, helping the country’s benchmark index end the session more than 2 percent higher.

The JSE Top40 index jumped 2.22 percent 47 140.85 points and the broader all share index picked up 2.03 percent to 53 222.89 points. I Reuters