South African rand firms as dollar reverses gains

At 1651 GMT, the rand traded at 18.5700 to the dollar, about 0.6% stronger than its previous close.

The dollar was down about 0.5% against a basket of global currencies.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday pushed back against bets of early U.S. rate cuts.

Locally, a survey showed on Thursday that South African manufacturing activity in January fell to levels rarely seen.

"We still expect growth to pick up over the course of this year, but this latest data reinforces the point that a marked improvement is unlikely," Capital Economics said in a note.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange's Top-40 index closed 0.15% lower.

However, MultiChoice surged over 26% after Vivendi's Canal Plus offered to buy all the shares it does not own in the South African company.

The benchmark 2030 government bond rose, the yield falling 4.5 basis points to 9.705%.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning and Anait MiridzhanianEditing by Toby Chopra and Frances Kerry)