Rand steady amid light trade

A local dealer the South African unit was trapped in R7.29 to R7.32 range against the US dollar, with no fresh data to provide support.
 
At 15:46 local time local time the rand was bid at R7.30 to the dollar from R7.29 at the previous close. It was bid at R9.29 to the euro from
R9.30 before and at R11.34 against the sterling from R11.32 at its previous close.
   
The euro was bid at US$1.27 from US$1.27 overnight.
   
A local dealer said: "The market traded in a narrow band today, with the UK market closed for a holiday."
   
Dow Jones Newswires reports that the dollar declined against the yen on Monday after measures announced by the Bank of Japan in response to the yen's strength disappointed currency markets.

The greenback reversed gains made in anticipation of the outcome of the BOJ's emergency meeting.
   
The announcement of an extension of the BOJ's loan programme was deemed insufficient to curb the Japanese currency's advance.
   
The BOJ policy board bank agreed to loosen monetary policy by adding another Y10 trillion in six-month funds into the market at an ultra-low rate of 0.1%, expanding on its current program of three-month loans.

The extra funding is meant to lower interbank interest rates and thereby help stop, or at least slow, the recent heavy fund flow into the yen.
  
But without any substantial nod to the possibility of direct market intervention against yen, the measures were not enough to curtail renewed
strength in the currency against the dollar, said analysts.