Johannesburg - The rand was slightly firmer against major currencies in quiet midmorning trade on Friday.
At 11:53‚ the rand was bid at R8.8707/$ from Thursday’s close of R8.8923 and Wednesday’s close of R8.9062. On Monday the intraday best level was R8.8117.
The local currency was bid at R11.7284/€ from its previous close of R11.7293 and at R13.5472 against sterling from R13.5608 before.
The euro was bid at $1.3220 from $1.3191 at Thursday’s close and $1.3272 at Wednesday’ close.
“The rand is trapped in an R8.84 to R8.89 range to the US dollar amid a lack of new drivers. The focus this week was on the dollar strength across the major crosses due safe-haven buying‚” a local trader said.
Meanwhile‚ the German Ifo survey - the next data release nervous markets were eyeing - for February came in stronger than expected‚ with both the current assessment and expectations component significantly improved‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.