S.Africa's rand hits 1-week high, stocks edge higher

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand advanced to a one-week high against a wobbly dollar on Friday and as gold traded near record highs, which also boosted local stocks.

The Johannesburg Top-40 index gained 0.17 percent to 23,336.95 points, while the broader All Share index added 0.14 percent to 25,933.45 points.

"The gold was the lead today trading at a record high and we saw the gold shares rally very sharply in the last half-an hour," Michael Carlsson, a trader at Consilium Capital said.

The rand was trading at 7.5450 against the dollar at 1530 GMT, 0.6 percent firmer than Thursday's New York close of 7.59. It briefly hit 7.5055, its firmest level since October 26 on Reuters data.

"Gold is still the driving force at the moment," said a Johannesburg-based currency trader.

The yellow metal raced to a record $1,100.90 per ounce fuelled by a falling dollar in volatile trade sparked by weaker-than-expected U.S. non-farm payrolls data.

"The U.S payrolls number came out basically mixed ... It's not such a bad figure and the revision was good. We still expect the dollar to come under pressure," the currency trader said.

U.S. employers cut a deeper-than-expected 190,000 jobs in October, driving the unemployment rate to a 26-1/2-year high of 10.2 percent. Job losses for August and September were revised to show 91,000 fewer people lost their jobs.

The rand has gained 20 percent against the dollar so far this year and the central bank and the finance ministry have warned its strength could harm some sectors.