South Africa's rand firmed more than 1% on Wednesday, helped by a recovery in demand for riskier assets, while Dutch-based technology group Prosus led stocks lower.

At 1542 GMT, the rand traded at 14.3310 versus the dollar, 1.17% stronger than its previous close.

Government bonds were also a shade stronger, with the yield on the benchmark 2026 bond down 0.5 basis points to 8.135%.

Stocks closed lower, with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange's Top-40 Index ending down 0.05% at 51,808 points, while the broader all-share index fell 0.1% to 57,918 points.

Prosus led the decliners on the Top-40 index, down 3.36% after Naspers, which is the majority shareholder in the Dutch-based technology group, said it sold around 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) worth of shares in order to buy back its own stock.

"The appreciation in the rand appears to be mostly driven by external factors, specifically the pull back of the US dollar as well as a bit of risk-off trade falling. So recovery of risk sentiment and a weak dollar," said Kieran Siney a Financial Markets analyst at ETM Analytics.

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