JOHANNESBURG — The rand was slightly softer late on Friday from its Thursday close amid a very quiet, yet nervous market.
“It has been a very quiet trading day today after quite a volatile week. The currency market has calmed down a bit, but the rand is still steady above R11 to the dollar and needs to strengthen more. The rand has calmed down and we are not near the panic levels reached during the week. The market, however, remains nervous. We are waiting for the next news headline for further market direction,” a local currency trader said.
At 3:39pm the rand was at R11,1126 against the dollar from a previous close of R11,0976. Against the euro, the rand was at R14,2160 from a previous close of R14,2125 and at R17,8622 against the British pound from a previous close of R17,8486. The euro was at $1,2795 against the dollar from the previous close of $1,2807.
The rand firmed to R11,05 to the dollar in intraday trade after trading close to R11,20 on Thursday.
Dovish comment from one of the United States central bank’s officials on Thursday helped improve global market sentiment. US Federal Reserve member James Bullard said the Fed should consider delaying the end of the monetary stimulus programme in the US, which led to dollar declines and a subsequent firmer rand.
Global risk appetite also improved after better-than-expected US data was released. US industrial production surged 1% in September and last week’s jobless claims fell to its lowest level in 14 years, lifting global market sentiment.
— BD Live
