JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand gained on Friday, after the African National Congress (ANC) said it would seek to form a government of national unity following its failure to win a majority in last week's election.
At 1505 GMT, the rand traded at 18.88 against the dollar, around 0.6% stronger than its previous close.
ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa said late on Thursday that the former liberation movement would invite other political parties to form a government of national unity (GNU), a similar arrangement to the one after 1994's historic all-race vote that ended apartheid.
The ANC said it had already held constructive talks with parties including the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA).
Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop said in a research note the markets took the announcement on unity government as slightly positive but are still following a "wait and see" approach.
In domestic economic data, South Africa's net foreign reserves rose to $58.287 billion at the end of May, from $57.851 billion in April, central bank data showed.
On the stock market, the Top-40 index ended around 0.6% lower.
The benchmark 2030 government bond was firmer, the yield down 10.5 basis points to 10.540%.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders and Bhargav AcharyaEditing by Alexander Winning and Ravi Prakash Kumar)
