JOHANNESBURG, March 3 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand
firmed in early trade on Friday, helped by a weaker dollar and
strong Chinese data.
At 0648 GMT, the rand traded at 18.1475 against the
dollar, 0.36% firmer than its previous close.
The dollar was down more than 0.2% against a basket
of global currencies as traders tried to gauge the path for
Federal Reserve policy.
Taking some steam out of the dollar were comments from
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic overnight that "slow and
steady is going to be the appropriate course of action," despite
new labour figures adding to the run of strong data of late.
ETM Analytics said in a note that the sentiment towards risk
markets has improved slightly due to the Chinese services PMI
that lifted the mood on Asian equity markets.
Activity in China's services sector expanded at the fastest
pace in six months in February as the removal of tough COVID-19
restrictions revived customer demand, driving a solid increase
in employment, a private sector survey showed on Friday.
The government's benchmark 2030 bond was stronger
in early deals, with the yield down 2.5 basis points to 10.150%.
(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
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