Johannesburg - The rand was little changed against major currencies at noon on Monday when the local markets officially shut down for the Christmas and the Day of Goodwill holidays.
At 12:14‚ the rand was bid at R8.5698/$ from its previous close of R8.5700/$. The local currency was bid at R11.3259/€ from its previous close of R11.3204/€ and at R13.8675 against sterling from R13.8480 before.
The euro was bid at $1.3215 from its overnight close of $1.3179.
Meanwhile‚ there are still plenty of headwinds on the horizon‚ which could lead to a shaky end to the year‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.
US budget negotiations remain in turmoil. Last week‚ Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives cancelled a vote on a bill aimed at partially averting a raft of automatic spending cuts and tax increases due to kick in at the beginning of 2013.
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