At 1500 GMT the rand was 0.15 percent firmer at 14.5325 per dollar compared with a close of 14.5550 overnight.

The currency reached a session best 14.4500 in early trade but lacked momentum in low-volume trade to push through to technical resistance at 14.40 that traders are eyeing as a catalyst for further gains.

With politics in Washington and the sino-US trade row curbing any large bets on emerging currencies going into year-end, the dollar was down 0.2 percent on the day.

Reuters reported on Thursday that the Trump administration is considering an executive order in the new year to declare a national emergency that would bar US companies from using Huawei and ZTE 000063.SZ products.

South African bonds were firmer, with the yield on benchmark government paper due in 2026 down 7 basis points to 8.93 percent.

In stocks, the Top-40 index fell 1.32 percent to 45,595 points, while the broader all-share was down 1.14 percent at 51,489 points.

Financial firm Old Mutual, Bidvest and tech-giant Naspers were the biggest fallers on the blue-chip index, each down more than 3 percent.

Shares of telecoms giant MTN led the gainers, jumping as much as 8 percent in its first trading session since it agreed to pay $53 million to settle a row with Nigeria's central bank that had threatened to cost it billions.

At the close, MTN shares were 3.32 percent higher at 884.30 rand.