South Africa's rand stretches recovery, stocks up as gold miners shine

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa rand gained as much as 2.5 percent on Wednesday as emerging markets rallied from a Brexit-triggered collapse and demand for riskier assets continued to recover. Stocks were also firmer, led by gold firms lifted by safe-haven demand as some investors looked to hedge against recent market volatility that battered commodity-linked assets. By 1545 GMT the rand had gained 2.33 percent to 14.8300 per dollar, a second straight day of gains and a close below the psychologically important 15.00 mark for the first time in four sessions. The rand brought gains for the week to more than 4 percent, shrugging off concerns abroad following the deadly attack at Istanbul's main airport. South Africa publishes trade, producer inflation and money supply figures on Thursday, data which investors will watch for details on an economy flirting with recession after a 1.2 percent contraction in the first quarter. "We still see a potential for resumption of the sell-off in risky EM assets and flight to safety in the near term," analysts at 4Cast said. "We expect the rand to stay fragile with the USD/ZAR possibly exceeding the 15.68 resistance level." Government bonds were also firmer, with the yield on the benchmark paper due in 2026 dropping 16 basis points to 8.75 percent. On the bourse stocks rose for a second straight day, clawing back some of the losses seen in the wake of Britain's Brexit vote. The benchmark Top-40 index rose 1.39 percent to 45,732 points while the All-Share index increased 1.47 percent to 51,890 points as nervousness in the market subsided post-Brexit. "Nervousness that we saw with the initial Brexit has been put aside since yesterday. It does feel like we're going back to normal," said Cratos Capital equities trader Greg Davies. Johannesburg-listed platinum producer Lonmin lead the gainers' list, tracking a higher white metal price. Lonmin was up 6.86 percent to 36.30 rand. Gold miners continued to rally as investor appetite for safe assets remained strong due to longer-term financial uncertainty after Brexit. Gold Fields was up 4.33 percent to 71.36 rand, while Sibanye Gold rose 3.57 percent to 50.75 rand. Trading was below average, with a total of 253 million shares changing hands compared with last year's daily average of 280 million. (Reporting by Nqobile Dludla and Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Ed Cropley)