South Africa's rand firmed on Friday as the dollar fell, regaining poise after a sharp dip in the previous session after US President Donald Trump's tweet about land reform in Africa's most industrialised economy. Stocks rose amid broad gains led by market heavyweight Naspers. At 1501 GMT the rand was one percent firmer at 14.2450 per dollar, after earlier hitting a session best of 14.1800.
"The rand recovery has not been in isolation but rather in line with that of its emerging market peers on the back of a weakening US dollar," IG South Africa senior market analyst Shaun Murison said. On the bourse, the blue chip top 40 index rose 1.17 percent to 52,742 points while the all-share index closed 1.02 percent stronger at 58,798 points. Naspers closed 2.82 percent higher at 3,538 rand on the back of improved sentiment after its annual general meeting on Friday.