South Africa's rand, stocks rally on improved risk appetite

South Africa's rand extended gains against the dollar on Wednesday, scaling its strongest level since early December, partly driven by positive sentiment towards emerging markets, while stock emulated the upward movement. The rand climbed more than 1 percent to 14.5350 per dollar in the session, the firmest it has been since Dec. 9 last year, according to Thomson Reuters data. The currency of Africa's most industrialised economy was last at these levels hours before President Jacob Zuma fired Fi