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Johannesburg - The rand was range bound with a firmer bias in quiet midday trade on Monday.
"We have had a relatively quiet start to the week, as some traders have taken their kids to the coast for the Easter break, so we expect the rand to be range bound over the fortnight," a local rand trader said.
Inland schools went on holiday on Friday, March 30 and start the next term on April 10. Good Friday is on April 6 and Family Day is on April 9.
At 11:45 local time, the rand was bid at R7.6355 to the dollar from Friday's close of R7.6620 and Thursday's close of R7.7117. It was bid at R10.1887 to the euro from R10.2041 before, and at R12.2341 against sterling from R12.2253 previously.
The euro was bid at $1.3352 from its Friday's close of $1.3372 and Thursday's close of $1.3304.
RMB analysts said in a morning report that the strong gains on Friday had taken the rand back to near the middle of its range. After the nervous trade of last week, risks were more evenly balanced in what was going to be a very busy week.
"On Friday we had the eurozone bailout fund expansion approved, a nicely conservative Spanish budget, and further evidence of a pickup in US consumer spending. The tone has started off very positively this week: we have already received a much better than expected official Chinese manufacturing March PMI figure at 53.1 versus 51.0 in February," RMB said.
The seasonally adjusted Kagiso Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) remained above the key 50 index point level and registered 55.1 in March. This was, however, down on the 57.9 recorded in February. The PMI, conducted on a monthly basis by the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, is a key leading indicator for activity in the manufacturing sector.
An index level of below 50 represents contraction in the manufacturing sector, while a reading of more than 50 signifies expansion. The BER noted that at 55.1, the PMI remained at a level consistent with robust manufacturing sector production growth.
Meanwhile Dow Jones Newswires reported the yen fell on Monday after rising to a three-week high against the dollar on Friday. The fall was due to the Bank of Japan's closely watched tankan survey of business sentiment coming in weaker than expected. The survey's large manufacturers' index remained flat at minus 4 in the March tankan from the previous December survey, weaker than economists' median forecast for minus 1.
Analysts said the figures showed that, despite the yen's recent weakness following the central bank's surprise monetary easing in February, corporate managers remained cautious of the outlook on the economy. The results also fuelled expectations for additional easing measures by the BOJ, which will hold its policy board meeting on April 9 and 10.
"We have had a relatively quiet start to the week, as some traders have taken their kids to the coast for the Easter break, so we expect the rand to be range bound over the fortnight," a local rand trader said.
Inland schools went on holiday on Friday, March 30 and start the next term on April 10. Good Friday is on April 6 and Family Day is on April 9.
At 11:45 local time, the rand was bid at R7.6355 to the dollar from Friday's close of R7.6620 and Thursday's close of R7.7117. It was bid at R10.1887 to the euro from R10.2041 before, and at R12.2341 against sterling from R12.2253 previously.
The euro was bid at $1.3352 from its Friday's close of $1.3372 and Thursday's close of $1.3304.
RMB analysts said in a morning report that the strong gains on Friday had taken the rand back to near the middle of its range. After the nervous trade of last week, risks were more evenly balanced in what was going to be a very busy week.
"On Friday we had the eurozone bailout fund expansion approved, a nicely conservative Spanish budget, and further evidence of a pickup in US consumer spending. The tone has started off very positively this week: we have already received a much better than expected official Chinese manufacturing March PMI figure at 53.1 versus 51.0 in February," RMB said.
The seasonally adjusted Kagiso Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) remained above the key 50 index point level and registered 55.1 in March. This was, however, down on the 57.9 recorded in February. The PMI, conducted on a monthly basis by the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, is a key leading indicator for activity in the manufacturing sector.
An index level of below 50 represents contraction in the manufacturing sector, while a reading of more than 50 signifies expansion. The BER noted that at 55.1, the PMI remained at a level consistent with robust manufacturing sector production growth.
Meanwhile Dow Jones Newswires reported the yen fell on Monday after rising to a three-week high against the dollar on Friday. The fall was due to the Bank of Japan's closely watched tankan survey of business sentiment coming in weaker than expected. The survey's large manufacturers' index remained flat at minus 4 in the March tankan from the previous December survey, weaker than economists' median forecast for minus 1.
Analysts said the figures showed that, despite the yen's recent weakness following the central bank's surprise monetary easing in February, corporate managers remained cautious of the outlook on the economy. The results also fuelled expectations for additional easing measures by the BOJ, which will hold its policy board meeting on April 9 and 10.
