South African Rand Rises To 20-day High Versus US Dollar

The South African rand extended its previous session's upward trading against the US dollar during New York late morning deals on Tuesday. At 12:10 pm ET, the rand climbed to a 20-day high of 6.8050 versus the greenback from last Friday's New York session close of 6.9292. On the upside, 6.7938 is seen as the next target level for the South African unit. Currently, the pair is worth 6.8168.

South Africa's economy expanded more than expected in the first quarter, data released by Statistics South Africa showed today.

The gross domestic product (GDP) increased an annualized and seasonally adjusted 4.8 percent sequentially in the first quarter, which was faster than the revised 4.5 percent growth registered in the fourth quarter. Economists were looking for a 4.2 percent growth.

On an annual basis, the GDP increased 3.6 percent during the first quarter, which was in line with economists' forecast. In the fourth quarter, the year-on-year increase in GDP was 3.8 percent.