South Africa's rand firms 1 percent against globally weaker dollar

Reuters
South African bank notes featuring an image of former South African President Nelson Mandela are displayed at an office in Johannesburg January 17, 2013. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed more than 1 percent against the dollar on Thursday as the greenback slipped after the U.S. Federal Reserve stuck to its mildly upbeat economic view but gave no hint of accelerating rate hikes. At 0817 GMT, the rand traded at 13.3550 per dollar, 0.93 percent firmer from its New York close on Wednesday. It earlier touched a session high of 13.3400/dollar. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by James Macharia)