Johannesburg - The rand regained some of its poise against the
dollar on Friday after the previous day's losses in a risk averse market,
although selling pressure should persist into the weekend.
Traders expected volumes to be thin as some Johannesburg
players opted to take Friday off for an extended weekend after South African
markets were closed for the Youth Day national holiday on Thursday.
Government bonds recovered after Thursday's losses, with
yields subsequently pulling back from three-week highs. The yield on the
benchmark 2015 bond R157 traded 1.5 basis points lower at 7.565% while that for
the 2026 R186 fell three basis points to 8.61%.
By 06:47 GMT the rand was at R6.8490 to the dollar, barely
changed from Thursday's close at R6.8530 in New York.
The rand had fallen to R6.9066 in global trade on Thursday -
its softest level since May 31 - broadly in line with a weaker euro which was
weighed down by debt turmoil in Greece.
Rand bears were however struggling to breach R6.85 on a
sustained basis, Standard Bank said.
"The fact that the dollar is a bit firmer this morning,
sovereign debt concerns in Greece are back on the radar screen and Asian equity
markets have opened down despite some short covering on Wall Street last night
should ordinarily imply a weaker rand," the bank said.
"However, rand bears might struggle to gain momentum given that there are no top-tier data scheduled for release ... not to mention volumes are likely to be light because a number of local participants might have converted yesterday's public holiday into a four day long weekend."