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Johannesburg - The rand was weaker against the dollar in noon trade on Friday, following the announcement of a press conference to be held in Pretoria later in the day by President Jacob Zuma and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
"The rand weakened when we got to hear about the news conference," a local rand trader said.
"The conference could be about a new deputy governor for the SA Reserve Bank, but we just don't know and the market is nervous as the conference could have some rand implications."
Before noon, the rand was bid at R6.8971/$ from its previous close of R6.8681/$. It was bid at R9.7648 to the euro from R9.7264 before and at R11.0692 against sterling from R11.0569 at its previous close.
The euro was bid at $1.4155 against $1.4168 previously.
Dow Jones Newswires has reported that the euro remained resilient in Asian trading on Friday due to hopes of a continued rate hike by the European Central Bank, recouping earlier losses against the dollar brought about by Standard and Poors's credit rating downgrade for Portugal.
"The consensus in the market is that Portugal will eventually ask (the European Union and International Monetary Fund) for help, which could serve as a euro-positive factor, although there is some distance to go," said Keiji Matsumoto, currency strategist at Nikko Cordial Securities.
Barclays Capital said in a research note that S&P's downgrade of Portugal's debt was "not a surprise" after the Portuguese parliament failed to pass a package of austerity measures late on Wednesday.
Barclays added that further action on ratings was possible once the details of the european stability mechanism were announced.
Without signs of contagion to systemically important Spain, "the events in Portugal are unlikely to become a major driver" for the euro/dollar trade, Barclays said.
"The rand weakened when we got to hear about the news conference," a local rand trader said.
"The conference could be about a new deputy governor for the SA Reserve Bank, but we just don't know and the market is nervous as the conference could have some rand implications."
Before noon, the rand was bid at R6.8971/$ from its previous close of R6.8681/$. It was bid at R9.7648 to the euro from R9.7264 before and at R11.0692 against sterling from R11.0569 at its previous close.
The euro was bid at $1.4155 against $1.4168 previously.
Dow Jones Newswires has reported that the euro remained resilient in Asian trading on Friday due to hopes of a continued rate hike by the European Central Bank, recouping earlier losses against the dollar brought about by Standard and Poors's credit rating downgrade for Portugal.
"The consensus in the market is that Portugal will eventually ask (the European Union and International Monetary Fund) for help, which could serve as a euro-positive factor, although there is some distance to go," said Keiji Matsumoto, currency strategist at Nikko Cordial Securities.
Barclays Capital said in a research note that S&P's downgrade of Portugal's debt was "not a surprise" after the Portuguese parliament failed to pass a package of austerity measures late on Wednesday.
Barclays added that further action on ratings was possible once the details of the european stability mechanism were announced.
Without signs of contagion to systemically important Spain, "the events in Portugal are unlikely to become a major driver" for the euro/dollar trade, Barclays said.
