johannesburg nov 26  the following scheduled economic events company announcements equity and currency market moves may affect south african markets on friday premier fishing and brands and ayo technology solutions ayojj will publish fullyear results south africas rand firmed slightly on thursday as the dollar slipped but still traded near a 16month high after investors bet that the us federal reserve will tighten monetary policy faster than its peers stocks suffered their sharpest drop in three months in asia on friday and oil tumbled after the detection of a new and possibly vaccineresistant coronavirus variant sent investors scurrying toward the safety of bonds the yen and the dollar wall street ended higher on wednesday lifted by gains in nvidia and other tech stocks while gap and nordstrom shares tumbled following weak quarterly reports gold prices gained on friday as concerns over the spread of a newly identified coronavirus variant boosted the metals safehaven appeal although bullion was set for a weekly drop on growing bets the us federal reserve could turn more hawkish for the top emerging markets news double click on