The rand was trading in quiet territory at noon on Monday‚ tracking the euro a bit softer‚ with the market awaiting any news from Europe.
European Central Bank President Draghi addresses the EU parliament on Monday and eurozone finance ministers will also meet‚ but market participants are not expecting much from either.
At 11:39 the rand was bid at R8.2926 to the dollar from its previous close of R8.2363 and Thursday’s close of R8.1347. It was bid at R10.1809 to the euro from its previous close of R10.1306 and at R12.8309 against sterling from R12.7729 before.
The euro was bid at US$1.2285 from its previous close of $1.2278.
“It is a very quiet day today‚ and we are continuing to follow the euro lower‚” a local trader said.
Dow Jones Newswires reported on Monday that market participants were sceptical that a meeting of eurozone finance ministers would make significant progress on solving the region's debt crises and amid doubts about global growth.
Caution pervaded financial markets following last week’s disappointing US nonfarm payrolls report and weaker than expected Chinese inflation data released overnight.
The Chinese inflation rate slowed to 2.2% in June compared with a year ago‚ fuelling concerns about slowing growth in China.
Expectations for Monday’s eurozone finance ministers’ meeting in Brussels were low. On the agenda would be the finalisation of the Spanish bank loans as well as the terms of the second programme for Greece‚ and the formal creation of a common regulator for banks.
Market participants would also look to a slew of Chinese data due to be released this week‚ including trade balance figures on Tuesday and second-quarter gross domestic product figures and industrial production on Friday‚ for further clues on the state of the economy there. - I-Net Bridge