The rand was flat on Friday morning after the local currency weakened over 1% on Thursday due to consolidation.
“The local currency also has to deal with thin trading volumes. This is one of the main reasons why we are seeing such big movements in the market. The rand should remain stable against the dollar in the long term‚” said Tony van Dyk‚ a currency dealer at the Iquad Group.
At 8.30am‚ the rand was bid at R8.5908 to the US dollar from its previous close of R8.5878 on Thursday. The local currency was bid at R11.2003 to the euro from its previous close of R11.1809 and at R13.8089 against sterling from R13.7981 before.
The euro was bid at $1.3044 from its overnight close of $1.3023.
“We have seen some demand from importers‚ which can have a big effect on the currency. The rand is tracking the euro‚ which has weakened against the dollar in the last couple of hours‚” Van Dyk said.