The rand continued on its firmer trajectory against the dollar late on Thursday‚ after a rally by the latter faded ahead of a speech by US Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen on Friday.
Global investors will focus on Yellen’s speech for possible clues on the timing of the next US interest rate increase.
Meanwhile US jobless claims fell for a second straight week and US durable goods orders‚ which jumped in April due to aircraft demand‚ increased the likelihood of a US interest rate rise sooner rather than later.
Initial jobless claims‚ a measure of layoffs across the US‚ fell 10‚000 to a seasonally adjusted 268‚000 in the week ended May 21‚ statistics released by the US Labour Department showed on Thursday.
This was below the estimate of 275‚000 of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.
New orders for durable goods‚ products designed to last at least three years‚ such as cars and computers‚ increased a seasonally adjusted 3.4% in April from a month earlier‚ the US Commerce Department said on Thursday.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected overall orders to increase 0.7%‚ the newswire said.
A US interest rate increase would strengthen the dollar and in turn weigh on other currencies‚ such as the rand.
Meanwhile‚ the price of Brent crude broke through the $50 a barrel handle on Thursday‚ for the first time in about seven months‚ due to lower US production data released on Wednesday‚ buoying global energy and commodity stocks‚ which in turn supported commodity-based currencies such as the rand.
Rand Swiss research analysts said oil prices caught a tail wind after a sharper-than-expected drawdown in US crude stocks and stronger economic growth expectations.
Data on Wednesday showed that US crude stocks declined by 4.2-million barrels to 537.1-million barrels‚ the largest weekly decline in seven weeks‚ the analysts said.
As a result‚ Brent crude rose 0.64% to trade at $50.06 per barrel‚ after gaining $1.13‚ or 2.3%‚ during the previous session.
At 3.31pm local time‚ Brent crude was up 0.41% at $50.05 a barrel.
At the same time‚ the rand was at R15.5131 to the dollar from R15.6685 at the previous close. It was at R17.3917 against the euro from R17.4785 previously‚ and at R22.8154 against the pound from R23.0311 previously.
The euro was at $1.1211‚ from $1.1155 previously.