South Africa's rand firmed against a weaker dollar on Friday, helped by higher gold prices as concerns over the United States' fiscal health sent investors into the safe-haven asset. At 1434 GMT, the rand traded at 17.

Retail trade sales in South Africa saw a 1. 6% year-on-year growth in June, outpacing economic growth but falling short of expectations. Despite continued spending on clothing and home improvement, co

The South African rand weakened on Thursday after a bigger-than-expected increase in U.S. producer prices reduced the odds of a super-sized September Federal Reserve rate cut. U.S. PPI inflation jumped 3.