Rand snaps four-day losing streak

The rand steadied against the dollar on Friday as developed market currencies came back in favour, ending a recent rally that has lifted the unit to a three-week high.

Stocks fell for a fourth straight session to a three-week low, as Pioneer Food Group weighed and investors stayed away from risky assets.

At 3.30pm, the rand was trading 13.1500 per dollar, unchanged from its overnight in New York. It was trading stronger at 13.1236 yesterday afternoon.

The currency hit a three-week high of 13.1175 to the dollar on Thursday as yield-hungry investors ignored the political fallout and two credit downgrades to “junk” that followed President Jacob Zuma’s sudden firing of his finance minister in late March.

The rand faced selling pressure as the dollar was back in favour on the back of subdued risk appetite with investors cautious ahead of French elections this weekend and possible announcements about tax cuts in the United States.

“The thing we need to watch for over the weekend and on Monday is the euro in terms of the French election and its results. We might see some volatility,” Treasury One currency dealer Andre Botha said.

On the bourse, the benchmark Top-40 index closed 0.51% down at 45,500 points, while the broader All-share index lost 0.58% to 52,194 points, a level it hit on March 31 when Zuma removed then finance minister Pravin Gordhan in a controversial Cabinet reshuffle.