Rand at 8.12 against the US dollar

Graphic: Renjith Krishnan.

The rand continued its slide in afternoon trade‚ awaiting easing measures expected on Thursday from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.

The rand started off in ranges in early on Wednesday and was slightly weaker in midday trade‚ tracking the euro which is under pressure‚ awaiting the much anticipated rate cut by the ECB.

“The markets have been static today because its a dollar holiday (US Independence Day) and for that reason we haven’t seen much flow. We are still watching the news from Europe; any news on easing the policy will impact the markets‚” said Bridget Taylor of Nedbank.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England are both due to deliver their monthly policy announcements on Thursday‚ with additional easing measures expected on both fronts

At 15:53‚ the rand was bid at R8.1281 to the dollar from its previous close of R8.0697.It was bid at R10.2000 to the euro from its previous close of R10.1661 and at R12.6748 against sterling from R12.6529 before.

The euro was bid at US$1.2557 from its previous close of $1.2604.

Meanwhile‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported that the majority of Germans do not want a United States of Europe‚ and rejected the idea of a European Union president and would not cede budget powers to Brussels‚ a survey by Stern magazine shows.

The poll of 1‚004 Germans‚ which is set to be published in Thursday's edition of the magazine‚ comes less than a week after German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Paris that the continent needs “more Europe”‚ not less. - I-Net Bridge