Allison Maltz

The South African rand was hovering just below the psychological R6,00 per dollar level in late afternoon trade on Friday, after breaching this level a couple of hours earlier on the back of offshore dollar sales. The rand earlier touched R5,95 the first time since June1999.

After initially sagging in the wake of a soft euro, the South African rand righted itself and is stuck in a narrow range against the dollar in a quiet market. According to dealers, the release of United States producer inflation data later on Thursday will give the dollar direction.

The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa drifted into the red by noon on Wednesday, taking its cue from weaker world markets. As was the case earlier in the week, the market was very quiet with low volumes.