South African rand firms to eight-month high on trade surplus

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand raced to a more than eight-month high against the dollar on Friday, breaching the 14.0000 mark for the first time since November partly due to data showing the second straight monthly trade surplus in June. The rand climbed more than 1.5 percent to a session high of 13.8905 versus the greenback, its strongest since Nov. 20, also reflecting broadbased dollar weakness after the release of U.S. GDP data. (Reporting by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by James Macharia)