Markets react to the withdrawal of fraud charges against Pravin Gordhan

The rand firmed to a two-month best level and banking shares on the JSE were higher on Monday after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) withdrew the summons against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and former SARS officials Oupa Magashula and Ivan Pillay.

The rand firmed more than 20c to R13.5847/$ from a close of R13.8143 on Friday, after news of the decision by National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams broke. It then fell back to R13.6360/$ at 11.55am.

"The rand has strengthened, and profit-taking on the rand momentum could lead to volatility with orders to buy at or below the 13.65/$ level," TreasuryOne dealer Wichard Cilliers said.

Bonds were also firmer, with the R186 bid at 8.7% from a previous 8.865%.

The JSE all share index showed little reaction, weakening 0.43% to 50,572.70 at midday.

However, banks were sharply up, with the banking index climbing 2.68%.

FirstRand was the strongest performer, gaining 3.51% to R47.70. Standard Bank was 2.82% higher at R142.91 and Barclays Africa rose 2.35% to R155.57.

Financial counters were also higher, with that index adding 0.71% by midday.

Sanlam rose 0.59% to R65.15 and Discovery added 0.81% to R114.20.

Rand hedges were lower on the stronger rand, with Anheuser-Busch InBev dropping 3.14% and Naspers shedding 1.75%.

by Maarten Mittner/ BDlive 2016