South Africa’s rand rose against the dollar as higher platinum prices boosted export income prospects for the world’s biggest producer of the precious metal. The rand traded near its strongest level in almost a week as the price of platinum, which rivals gold as South Africa’s biggest export, rebounded from yesterday’s decline. The nation produces almost 80 percent of the world’s platinum and about 10 percent of its gold, typically causing the rand to move in tandem with the metals’ prices. “The slight improvement in the platinum price along with other metals does provide a mildly positive undertone for the rand in a very thin market,” said Natheem Alexander, a currency trader in Cape Town at Peregrine Quant. “Trading volumes are dismal at the moment so the rand is struggling to find direction.” The rand strengthened as much as 1.3 percent to 9.5600 per dollar, the highest level since Dec. 18, and traded at 9.6705 as of 1:24 p.m. in Johannesburg, from 9.6850 yesterday. It also climbed versus seven of the 16 most-actively traded currencies monitored by Bloomberg. Against the euro, it slipped 0.2 percent to 13.5157. Platinum prices jumped as much as 1.5 percent to $857.50 an ounce, while gold slipped 0.4 percent to $840.58 an ounce. The rand gained even as South Africa’s benchmark FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index of stocks fell 1.2 percent amid declines in Asian and European equities. South Africa’s currency slumped almost 30 percent against the dollar this year as foreign investors sold about 73 billion rand ($7.5 billion) more than they bought of South African assets amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, data from the country’s stock and bond exchanges show. Government bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 13.5 percent security due September 2015 declining one basis point to 7.28 percent. The yield on the 13 percent note maturing in August 2010 lost three basis points to 7.36 percent. Yields move inversely to bond prices.

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