The rand gained some strength against the dollar on Wednesday after positive December retail sales figures were released by Statistics South Africa.
At 3pm the rand was trading at around R19.09 against the dollar, about 0.3% stronger than its previous close.
The rand was strengthened even further on Thursday morning and was trading at around R19.02 to the dollar at 9.45am.
In terms of other major currencies, the rand was trading at around R20.43 to the euro and around R23.88 to the pound.
RETAIL SALES BOOSTS SOUTH AFRICA’S ECONOMY
Retail sales in SA grew by 2.7% year-on-year in December, according to data released by StatsSA.
According to the figures released, month-on-month basis, sales increased by 1.4%.
Sales in the three months to the end of December were up by 0.1%, compared with the same period last year.
The largest contributors to this increase were retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods industries. The figures showed to be at 7.0% and contributed 1.6 percentage points to the overall retail sales figures.
The next highest contributor was general dealers, adding 3.5% and contributing 1.5 percentage points.
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