Johannesburg – The rand traded in a narrow band to the US dollar during mid-morning as traders looked to the gathering of eurozone finance ministers to decide whether Greece receives its next instalment of bailout money.
At 11:44am‚ the rand was bid at R8.8637/$ from Friday’s close of R8.8616. The local currency was bid at R11.4902/€ from its previous close of R11.5180 and at R14.1893 against sterling from R14.2125 before.
The euro was bid at $1.2959‚from Friday’s close of $1.2973.
“Greece remains the main focal point to decide near term global risk sentiment‚” said Henry Flint‚ analyst at Thebe Stockbroking.
But Absa analysts said in note that even if the rand does indeed benefit from the improved risk appetite associated with Greek financial assistance‚ rand bulls should remain cautious given that the looming US fiscal cliff and third quarter domestic gross product‚ out on Tuesday.