The currency advanced 0.6% to 14.3530 per dollar by 2:13pm in Johannesburg, after gaining as much as 0.9% earlier. Yields on dollar bonds due 2028 climbed three basis points to 5.23%, while the cost of insuring the debt for five years using credit-default swaps rose three points to 197, the highest since March. The country's stock and bond markets are closed for a public holiday.
Briefs
Rand on two-day hot streak as South Africans head to the polls
The rand gained a second day on Wednesday as South Africans started voting in an election that may determine prospects for reforms to revive the country’s flagging economy.
While opinion polls point to the ruling African National Congress extending its quarter-century monopoly on power, President Cyril Ramaphosa needs a convincing majority to push through economic reforms in the face of opposition from factions within the party. A narrow victory could stymie his efforts to restructure state-owned companies and root out corruption.
Voting for the 400-member National Assembly and nine provincial legislatures started at 7am local time and will run until 9pm. Final results are scheduled to be released by May 11, and a first meeting of the new parliament has been provisionally set for May 22. The president is officially elected at that sitting.