"It has been a very quiet pre-long weekend trading day, with the rand firming a bit, playing catch-up with US dollar losses on Wednesday. Pre-weekend squaring of positions also helped the rand a bit firmer," said Rand Merchant Bank currency trader Ian Martin.
Chinese exports and imports both increased faster than expected in July, jumping 5.1% and 10.1% year on year respectively.
The world’s second-largest economy’s trade balance — the difference between imports and exports — remained in surplus but narrowed to $17.82bn from $27.12bn in June.
