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Feb 13 2012 12:15
Miner Xstrata says it has brought forward maintenance on two furnaces to assist Eskom to save power.
Feb 13 2012 10:43
Although jobs were created, the economy is still 420 000 jobs short of the peak employment level before the 2009 global financial crisis, says Adcorp.
Feb 13 2012 07:58
Greek lawmakers have approved a new round of drastic austerity measures after a long day of street battles between police and protesters left dozens injured.
Johannesburg - A softer rand remained range-bound against a firmer dollar in the afternoon session on Thursday, ahead of non-farm payrolls data in the US on Friday.
At 15:41 the rand was bid at R7.5708 to the dollar from R7.5137 at its previous close. It was bid at R10.4819 to the euro from its previous close of R10.4582 and was at R12.0010 against the sterling from R11.9676.
The euro was bid at $1.3835 from $1.3895 previously.
A local currency trader said: "We have seen dollar strength across the board. In the case of the rand, from a weakened position overnight, there is no clear direction for the local currency this afternoon ahead of non-farms data in the US tomorrow.
"We have seen support at R7.53 against the dollar and at R7.65 top side."
Dow Jones Newswire reported that the euro traded near fresh seven-month lows on Thursday as festering concerns over Greece sovereign debt weighed on the common currency, while the European Central Bank earlier left key interest rates unchanged.
Investors will be listening at the ECB press conference during early New York morning hours for any indications of how the central bank might address the Greek debt situation, which threatens to spill into other eurozone economies.
Early in New York, the euro was at $1.3845 from $1.3905 late on Wednesday, according to EBS via CQG. The common currency hit its lowest level in more than seven months, at $1.3826, overnight.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee on Thursday voted against extending its bond buying programme, but it is far from certain that the decision marks an end to the biggest stimulus effort in the central bank's history.
The BOE launched its £200bn quantitative easing programme in March last year in a dramatic attempt to prevent the fallout from the financial crisis leading the UK economy into a downward spiral of deflation and output declines. The central bank had already slashed its key interest rate to 0.5% from 5.0% within a six month period.
The UK pound declined by nearly 0.2% after the BOE left rates unchanged, but left the door open for further bond buying.
- I-Net Bridge