Johannesburg - The rand firmed on Monday against the dollar
as the Group of Eight leading industrialised nations backed keeping Greece
inside the eurozone, lifting appetite for riskier assets.
The rand strengthened almost half a percent to R8.2953 at
06:23 GMT from New York’s Friday close of R8.3450 per dollar.
“Global equities are slightly better and the euro has
bounced, perhaps a chance that the Greeks will stay in the eurozone now -
therefore the risk appetite has increased slightly,” said a Johannesburg
trader.
At the moment many market players see the main scenario as
Greece staying in the euro and European leaders making some compromises to
maintain financial lifelines for the country, which increased confidence in the
markets.
With little data expected locally, traders will likely watch
news from abroad for the currency’s direction.
Government bonds hardly moved with both the benchmark yield
down half a basis point to 6.39% for the three-year bond and to 8.305% for the
14-year paper.