Johannesburg - The rand continued to shrug off an under pressure euro, and held up well against the dollar in the afternoon session on Friday.
Earlier, the rand jumped against the dollar, after China said it would raise the reserve-requirement ratio for banks by half a percentage point.
However, the local currency slipped back to R7.64 against the dollar, and R7.78 topside.
At 15:37 the rand was bid at R7.6677 to the dollar from R7.6336 at its previous close. It was bid at R10.4241 to the euro from its previous close of R10.4491 and was at R11.9802 against the sterling from R11.9786.
The euro was bid at $1.3573 from $1.3685 previously.
A local currency trader said: "We saw rand weakness, after China said it would raise the reserve-requirement ratio for banks, but then came back down testing stops at R7.64 against the dollar, and within a range of R7.64-78."
"We need to break and trade consistently below R7.64 against the dollar to see any further movement," he said, noting a US holiday on Monday.
Dow Jones Newswire reported that pressure on the euro accelerated early on Friday, with the common currency trading near a nine-month low against the dollar, on the back of weaker-than-expected economic growth data for the eurozone and further credit tightening in China.
Eurozone in trouble
The euro's slide overnight prompted the Swiss National Bank to intervene for a third time this year, according to traders, to stem the sharp appreciation of the Swiss franc.
Investors' flight to the perceived safety of the dollar and the yen also hit currencies from commodities producers, such as Australia, as oil, gold, silver and copper prices tumbled after the People's Bank of China said it will raise the reserve-requirement ratio for banks by half a percentage point from February 25, the second increase this year.
Sentiment deteriorated in the wake of data showing gross domestic product in Italy, Spain and Greece contracted in the fourth quarter, while growth in the eurozone's combined GDP trailed analysts' estimates.
"Part the improvement expected in fiscal balances [in the eurozone] is expected to be derived from the cyclical improvement in the economy, so the fact that you got softer growth just adds a wrinkle of nervousness," said Daragh Maher, deputy head of global FX strategy at Credit Agricole Corporate
and Investment Bank in London.
The common currency has lost 5.5% this year on concerns about sovereign debt problems in Greece.
European Union leaders, who gathered on Thursday to address the need for support to the fiscally stressed Greece, failed to allay investors' worries.
"Investors will head into the weekend nursing a profound sense of disappointment over an unexpected lack of concrete proposals to secure Greece's financial future," strategists at BNY Mellon wrote in a note to clients.
Investors will be eyeing the release of US retail sales,
followed by the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer-sentiment survey.
- I-Net Bridge