* Upbeat U.S. GDP figures add support for rand
* Bonds continue to ease after medium term budget
By Vuyani Ndaba
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 26 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand firmed
against the dollar on Friday as a gold mining strike drew to a
close and investors continued to cheer a pledge by Finance
Minister Pravin Gordhan to keep state spending in check for the
next three years.
The rand was at 8.6702 against the dollar at 1604
GMT, 0.85 percent stronger than Thursday’s close of 8.7441 in
New York.
Data showing that the U.S. economy expanded 2 percent in the
third quarter also helped boost international investors’
appetite for riskier emerging market assets.
“A few investors were playing South Africa from the short
side. They have been closing positions after fairly positive
U.S. GDP numbers that came out a few hours ago,” UBS strategist
Manik Narain said.
The strikes have fizzled out this week, but they have stood
out as the worst industrial unrest in the gold mines since the
end of apartheid in 1994 and have cost the economy over 10
billion rand ($1.1 billion), according to the Treasury.
They were also a factor in Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan
cutting his 2012 growth forecast to 2.5 percent of GDP from 2.7
percent projected in February, and pushing up his budget deficit
forecast to 4.8 percent of output in Thursday’s interim budget.
Continued…
