Johannesburg – Positive global sentiment offset the rand’s weakening trend‚ keeping the domestic currency below R9 to the dollar in afternoon trade on Monday.
Good numbers out of the eurozone over the past week bode well for global growth and have improved market sentiment.
“Last week the ECB announced that they wanted banks to start repaying their loans‚” said Mark Kalkwarf‚ a senior portfolio manager at the Iquad Group.
“This was interpreted as a positive sign and offset some of the negativity plaguing the rand.”
At 3.25pm‚ the rand was bid at R8.9935 to the US dollar from R8.9422 at Friday’s close and R9.0686 at Thursday’s close.
The local currency was bid at R12.0819 to the euro from its previous close of R12.0350 and at R14.1318 against sterling from R14.1187 before.
The euro was bid at $1.3442 from Friday’s close of $1.3465 and Thursday’s close of $1.3367.
“Ultimately the market is still talking about the same risks as before‚ but with out any new negative news‚ the effect is somewhat subdued” he said. - I-Net Bridge