South Africa's rand hits 2-1/2 year high on bets on leadership change

South Africa's rand on Thursday extended gains that have seen it soar to its firmest in two-and-a-half years, with investors believing a leadership change in the ruling party would spur an economic rebound. At 06:40 GMT the rand traded at 12.2650, inching 0.04% ahead in early trade following a more than 1% surge in the previous session that lifted it through a succession of key technical milestones.