The rand held steady with a firmer bias in afternoon trade on Friday as markets sought fresh direction after China’s second quarter GDP data had worked its way into markets.
At 15:52 the rand was bid at R8.2818 to the dollar from its previous close of R8.3181. It was bid at R10.1322 to the euro from its previous close of R10.1518 and at R12.8624 against sterling from R12.8301 before.
The euro was bid at US$1.2232 from its previous close of $1.2207.
“Trading has been lacklustre on the whole. China’s second quarter GDP did not stoke fears of a global recession‚ but it didn’t allay fears of the slowdown in global growth‚” said Mike Keenan‚ sub-Saharan currency strategist at Absa Capital.
China’s economy grew 7.6% in the April-June period‚ matching the median estimate of 15 economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires. While much of the focus was on the growth figures‚ industrial production and retail sales figures also came out. - I-Net Bridge