Johannesburg - The rand firmed on Monday, shaking off a sluggish start to rise along other emerging currencies as investors closed dollar positions ahead of a speech by US President Donald Trump last night, which was expected to give clues on his fiscal policy.
At 5pm, the rand was bid at R12.9141 to the dollar, 4.41c firmer than at the same time on Friday.
The local unit had slipped to a session low of R12.995 in early trade, rattled by renewed political tensions after media reports that deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas was being investigated by the Hawks police unit.
The rand made strides following last Wednesday’s budget speech where Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan struck an upbeat tone on growth while raising taxes for the country’s top earners.