Johannesburg - The rand held steady against the dollar on
Friday after falling the previous day on the back of current account data that
suggested Africa’s biggest economy was suffering from Europe’s waning demand
for its exports.
The rand was little-changed at R8.3813 against the dollar at
06:48 GMT from last night’s New York close of R8.3800.
“It's unfortunate that global growth fears are filtering
into the market again,” said Ion de Vleeschauwer, a trader at Bidvest Bank.
“The market was disappointed that the Fed did not do any
quantitative easing earlier in the week. That just put the skids back on the
euro and boosted the dollar.”
Global growth concerns are expected to exert more pressure
on the currency today as international investors retreat from overseas markets
after figures showing China’s factory sector shrank for an eighth straight
month.
Business activity in the euro area contracted for a fifth
straight month and US manufacturing grew at its slowest pace in 11 months,
according to data released on Thursday.
Traders said the rand could trade in a wide R8.20 - R8.50
range, but with a bias towards weakness.
Government bonds also eased, with yields rising 3.5 basis
points to 6.075 for the three year bond and 8.08 perform the 14-year paper.