The South African rand was a tad stronger in early trade on Tuesday on the back of a slightly weaker dollar. This saw the local unit below the 8.50 to the dollar level after trading around 8,55 for most of Monday.
At 0852, the rand was trading at 8,4830 to the dollar from a New York close of 8,5200. It was also firmer against sterling, treading at 13,9497 from a previous 14,0097, while against the euro it was quoted at 9,1568 from Monday’s 9,1808.
A currency trader said that with the dollar a bit weaker, the rand’s strength was to be expected.
“The rand hasn’t moved all that much. While the relative strength could be attributed to a lot of things, the weaker dollar is probably the main driving force at the moment,” he said.
The trader said that on Monday, good two-way interest had been seen with importer demand and dollar sales from offshore. This had seen the rand range-bound.
The rand is expected to trade in a range of 8,45 to 8,55 to the dollar for the rest of the day. – I-Net-Bridge