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Johannesburg - The rand came off its intraday worst levels on Tuesday afternoon, tracking a firmer euro. A local dealer noted a medium term bias towards a weaker rand against the dollar.
At 15:33 local time local time the rand was bid at R7.3917 to the dollar from R7.3340 at the previous close. It was bid at R9.4041 to the euro from R9.2888 before and at R11.3604 against sterling from R11.3362 at its previous close.
The euro was bid at $1.2730 from $1.2663 overnight.
A local dealer said: "We saw the rand spike up to R7.43 against the dollar, but then we came back off that in correspondence with the euro firming against the dollar.
"We are seeing a mild upward trend on the rand against the dollar, with interest at around R7.40-42 and having come from R7.29 to R7.41 against the dollar over the past few days," he said.
Dow Jones Newswires reports that investors looked warily toward US data releases and a Federal Reserve statement that could paint a darkening picture of the US economy.
Investors turned away from currencies most closely tied to the pace of global growth, such as the Australian and Canadian dollars, while the Swiss franc, considered a key safe harbor in stormy waters, soared to a record high against the euro before receding slightly during New York trading.
The minutes from the August meeting of the Fed's rate-setting committee, will be scoured for clues about how the Fed might prop up a sagging economy, analysts said.
The dollar could gain if the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee sound a particularly cautious note, said Richard Ilczyszyn, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock in Chicago.
"What do they know that we don't," Ilczyszyn said of what investors will be looking for in Tuesday's FOMC minutes as to the pace of the US recovery. "What exactly are they worried about?"
Investors will closely monitor a press conference being held after the European Central Bank's policy-setting meeting on Thursday.
They will also be watching the US non-farm payrolls data for August due on Friday, traders said.