South Africa's rand firmer on exporter, corporate demand

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand strengthened in early trade on Tuesday, bolstered as domestic firms brought back overseas earning ahead of the end of the financial quarter.

The rand was at 10.0020 against the dollar at 0627 GMT, 0.62 percent stronger than its New York close of 10.0675 overnight.

"The repatriation of foreign earnings is adding a bit of support but nothing has changed, we are not out of the woods yet," said Ion de Vleeschauwer, a trader at Bidvest Bank.

"The underlying sentiment is still bearish."

The end of June marks the end of either the second quarter or fiscal year for many South African companies with offshore operations such gold producer Gold Fields and transport firm Imperial Holdings.

Government bonds also firmed, recouping some of the losses suffered in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve's plan to withdraw its stimulus programme.

The yield, which moves inversely to the price, on the benchmark bond due in 2026 fell 13.5 basis points to 8.170 percent, while the paper due in 2015 dropped 13 basis points to 6.355 percent.

Emerging markets have been heavily sold after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said last week the U.S. central bank could soon start scaling down its monthly $85 billion in asset purchases, which have boosted appetite for risky assets such the rand and local bonds.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-africas-rand-firmer-exporter-corporate-demand-072051807.html

Michelle Obama Speech Michael Clarke Duncan Nazanin Boniadi Deval Patrick Dedication 4 labor day college football scores