/ 5 November 2013

Rand steady ahead of key data releases

The rand was steady on Tuesday morning
The rand was steady on Tuesday morning, ahead of the European Central Bank and Bank of England policy meetings to be held on Thursday. (Gallo)

The rand held steady in early trade on Tuesday. Little changed from its overnight close against the major currencies‚ as traders awaited the release of key US and European economic data later in the week.

At 8.06am the rand was trading at R10.1385 to the dollar from R10.1263 on Monday and R10.1755 at Friday’s close.

Against the euro‚ the rand was bid at R13.6852 from R13.6923 at its previous close‚ and was at R16.1895 against sterling from R16.1717 at the previous close.

The euro was trading at $1.3497 against the dollar from Monday’s close of $1.3515.

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England will conclude their monetary policy meetings on Thursday.

Traders said market participants were divided over whether the ECB would slash its 0.5% key policy rate on Thursday‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.

'The rand is taking a breather'
​A cut was expected to send the euro weaker‚ while standing pat would probably strengthen the currency‚ the newswire said.

US nonfarm payrolls and growth data will be released on Friday.

"No wonder the rand is taking a breather ahead of the releases‚" a Standard Bank currency trader said.

"I think we can expect more of the same until we get the data later in the week‚" he said. – I-Net Bridge