The rand continued to trade cautiously and was slightly firmer against the dollar‚ unlike other emerging-market currencies.
Just before midday‚ the rand had gained 0.17% against the dollar‚ Russia’s rouble 0.84%‚ India’s rupee 0.36%‚ and Turkey’s lira 0.27%.
Rand Merchant Bank analyst John Cairns said that after some extreme volatility‚ which saw the rand lose close to 2% compared to other high-risk currencies — which had themselves been volatile‚ given the pressures from Europe and the US — it was impossible to foresee where the rand should trade after the mid-term budget policy statement.
“Levels seen this morning were a lot more justified than Friday’s overshoot‚” he said.
The rand had gained 0.93% at Friday’s close after posting consecutive losses in previous days.
At 11.30am‚ the rand was R14.086 to the dollar from Friday’s R14.1106‚ at R16.3880 to the euro from R16.3838‚ and at R18.5303 to the pound from R18.5273.
The euro was at $1.16334 from $1.1612.
by Reitumetse Pitso -BusinessLIVE
