By Tannur Anders and Rachel Savage
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand extended gains on Monday, building from the previous week, as investor sentiment towards Africa’s most industrialised economy improved.
At 1517 GMT, the rand traded at 18.5600 to the dollar, about 0.87% stronger than its closing level on Friday.
The dollar was last trading up slightly at 103.450 against a basket of global currencies.
Analysts say the rand’s gains come partly on the back of reduced intensity of power cuts at home and speculation that the BRICS summit of emerging countries may be moved out of Johannesburg due to the arrest warrant by International Criminal Court hanging over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s head.
“The other factor that investors have cheered in recent days is reduced tensions between (South Africa) and the West regarding Russian relations,” said Kieran Siney of ETM Analytics.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected this week to travel to Russia and Ukraine for an Africa-led peace mission in an attempt to end the ongoing war.
“We usually see these types of dilemmas as an opportunity for foreigners to buy back into (South Africa), even though it is mostly foreigners that created the initial selloff,” said Casparus Treurnicht, a Gryphon Asset Management portfolio manager.
The rand has recovered over 6% in June after plummeting around 7% in May.
South Africa’s sovereign dollar-denominated bonds also continued their June rally, with the 2044 maturity up and rising 1.153 cents at 1526 GMT to 73.017 cents in the dollar, according to Tradeweb data.
“Real progress in minimising load shedding (power cuts)… is the main driver,” said Razia Khan, chief Africa economist at Standard Chartered.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, both the blue-chip Top-40 index and the broader all-share index ended about 0.9% lower.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was stronger, with the yield down 5.5 basis points to 10.765%.
Investors will also be looking at policy meetings of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan this week, as markets seek clues from policymakers on the future path of interest rates.
(Reporting by Nellie Peyton, Tannur Anders and Rachel Savage with additional reporting by Bhargav AcharyaEditing by Alexander Winning and Toby Chopra)
