The rand marked time during midday trade on Thursday‚ after strengthening slightly off Wednesday’s weaker levels.
Tony van Dyk‚ a currency dealer at the Iquad Group‚ said a couple of factors influenced the move‚ “Amplats miners have gone back to work and the euro has recovered against the dollar. On the back of those two things we’ve seen the rand recover.”
At 11.45am‚ the rand was bid at R8.7581 to the US dollar from R8.7987 at Wednesday’s close. The local currency was bid at R11.6873 to the euro from its previous close of R11.6886 and at R14.0165 against sterling from R14.0693 before.
The euro was bid at $1.3352 from Wednesday’s close of $1.3284.
“It is likely that the rand will stay in a range of R8.70-R8.85/$ in the short-term until the euro moves further against the dollar or we see a wage agreement in the Cape‚” said Van Dyk. - I-Net Bridge