The South African rand was steady against major currencies in late morning trade on Friday in a flow-driven market. Currency traders said that while offshore demand for dollars was being seen, exporter sales would likely prevent the rand from weakening too much and expected it to be range bound for the rest of the
day.
At 1136, the rand was trading at 6,9450 per dollar from a New York close of 6,9551. It was quoted at 8,1396 to the euro from a previous 8,1486 and at 11,5294 against sterling from Thursday’s 11,5641.
The euro was quoted at $1,1731 from $1,1738 late on Thursday in New York, while gold was quoted at $370,25 an ounce, little changed from its previous close.
“This morning we saw offshore sellers which took the rand just below 6,90. We have since seen buying interest again from one or two offshore banks, but there are exporters at around 6,95 to 7,00, so I don’t think the rand should scream up too much,” a currency trader said.
She continued that the rand was likely to trade in a 6,87 to 6,97 range for the rest of the day.
“We are still watching the euro. That is why the market has been so volatile — the euro has been very choppy,” the trader concluded. – I-Net Bridge