The South African rand remained firm against major currencies on Friday after rallying to its best level against the dollar in two years on Thursday morning.
Currency traders said the local unit looked set to consolidate, remaining below the key 7.86 level which it breached on Thursday. At 0840, the rand was trading at 7,7580 to the dollar from a New York close of 7,7699. Its best level on Thursday was 7,7466, while its best level so far on Friday was 7,7250.
The rand was quoted at 12,1980 against sterling from a previous 12,2380. It was trading at 8,3550 to the euro from Thursday’s close of 8,3866.
On Thursday, the rand touched 18-month best levels against both sterling and the euro of 12,1328 and 8,3587 respectively. The rand bettered the latter on Friday when it touched 8,3226.
The euro was quoted at $1,0773 from $1,0784 late on Thursday in New York, while gold was quoted at $324,90 an ounce from a previous $326,00/oz.
“There was big carnage yesterday. 7,85 to 7,86 was a crucial level over the past three weeks or so — there was a big trend line coming in from about October 1999. We saw stop losses triggered at 7,85 which took the rand to 7,75,” a currency trader said.
He added that the rand strengthened from 7,90 to 7,75 to the dollar in eight minutes and that most people had been caught long on that.
“We expect a bit of consolidation today. I think the rand will struggle to move above 7,86 again,” the trader concluded.
He expected the rand to trade in a range of 7,68 to 7,82 to the dollar on the day. – I-Net Bridge