Alison Maltz

The South African rand traded close to the 8,85 per dollar level late on Friday afternoon in what traders described as "another weak close" for the local unit. Traders expect the rand to again test the 9 per dollar level next week.

The South African rand was steady against major currencies in early trade on Thursday after see-sawing for the previous few days.

The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa forged ahead at the start on Wednesday, led by heavyweight rand hedge stocks. This followed the rand’s depreciation above the 8,90 to the dollar level and warnings by currency traders that the rand was heading back above 9 to the greenback.

The South African rand was little changed against major currencies late Tuesday morning compared with its previous close. Dealers said the market had been characterised by good two-way trade, which had seen the rand trade in a range of between 8,59 and 8,65 to the US dollar.

The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) retreated into the red at the start on Thursday in fairly quiet trade. The opening saw a reverse of the trend over the past two days, with gold stocks gaining ground boosted by a higher bullion price, but heavyweight rand hedge stocks slipping on the back of a firmer currency.

The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE)
retreated in opening trade on Thursday as the firmer currency dragged heavyweight rand hedge stocks down.

A stronger bullion price saw gold stocks lead the upside of the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) on Monday. Overall, however, the market was flat and volumes thin.