Johannesburg - The rand firmed by more than one percent to a session high of 12.1720 against the dollar on Friday, propelled by a strengthening European currency that boosted some emerging market currencies.
“The euro is at recent highs. This move is purely some profit taking on the euro causing the dollar to slump,” said Jim Bryson, a currency trader at Rand Merchant Bank.
The currency had weakened more than 2 percent to 12.3535/dollar on Thursday after S&P cut Eskom's long-term ratings to “BB+” from “BBB-” and national scale ratings to “zaA/zaA-2” from “zaAA-/zaA-1”, below investment grade.
Pressure still looms over the local unit as the Eskom downgrade has implications for the already strained national budget, because the government guarantees the state utility's debt.
Reuters