The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) rallied on Friday after taking a breather on Thursday.

On the bourse, the blue-chip top 40 index surged 0.67 percent to 53,198.96 points, while the all share index regained 0.52 percent to 59,638.21 points.

The South African rand touched R14.26 to the U.S. dollar from Thursday's R13.98. The local unit was driven initially by a dollar slide on reports that U.S. President Donald Trump would nominate a dovish candidate to head the Federal Reserve.

Rand-hedged stocks, which make the bulk of their revenue outside South Africa and tend to weaken as the currency strengthens, fell on the back of gains in the local unit.

The biggest movers on the Johannesburg Top 40 index included British American Tobacco, which added 2.2 percent to R926, Richemont added 2.59 percent to R131.07 and bourse heavy-weight Naspers climbed 1.12 percent to R3,470.

Lonmin shares tumbled 28.23 percent to R14 after the platinum miner said earlier it was delaying the publication of its year-end results.

Kumba Iron Ore was up 1.05 percent to R293.87, extending its week-long rally to 9 percent. British American Tobacco was up 2.2 percent to R926 and Richemont 2.59 percent to R131.07. However, private equity group Brait, which is 35 percent owned by retail magnate Christo Wiese, lost 1.37 percent to R49.71.

Steinhoff International was up 2.15 percent to R61.8 and Shoprite lost 0.34 percent to R204.81.

Bidcorp advanced 0.78 percent to settle R310.81.

Standard Bank lost 1.73 percent to R163.35 while Coronation Fund Managers rose 5.97 percent to R77.56.

Mondi plc was up 1.32 percent to R342.42 and Pulp and paper company Sappi 2.03 percent to R95.40.