Johannesburg - After a slightly weak start, the rand was stronger in afternoon trade on
Thursday as it tracked a strengthened euro following the European
Central Bank's (ECB) announcement that interest rates would remain
unchanged.
A local trader said the ECB meeting was the main focus for the day, and the rand made a slight recovery in the afternoon following ECB president Mario Draghi's announcement that the bank would keep the rate at 1%.
ECB president Mario Draghi said monetary policy was accommodative and that there was "absolutely" no contradiction between the growth compact and the fiscal compact, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
"The rand is stronger than expected," a local trader said, adding that it was strengthening and had remained above the R7.72 level to the dollar throughout the afternoon.
While the ECB meeting was the focus for the day, the rand would follow US non-farm payroll data tomorrow, he said.
At 18:00 local time the rand was bid at R7.7273 to the dollar from its previous close of R7.7253. It was bid at R10.1586 to the euro from R10.1547 before, and at R12.4993 against sterling from R12.5073 previously.
The euro was bid at US$1.3146 from its previous close of $1.3155.
A local trader said the ECB meeting was the main focus for the day, and the rand made a slight recovery in the afternoon following ECB president Mario Draghi's announcement that the bank would keep the rate at 1%.
ECB president Mario Draghi said monetary policy was accommodative and that there was "absolutely" no contradiction between the growth compact and the fiscal compact, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
"The rand is stronger than expected," a local trader said, adding that it was strengthening and had remained above the R7.72 level to the dollar throughout the afternoon.
While the ECB meeting was the focus for the day, the rand would follow US non-farm payroll data tomorrow, he said.
At 18:00 local time the rand was bid at R7.7273 to the dollar from its previous close of R7.7253. It was bid at R10.1586 to the euro from R10.1547 before, and at R12.4993 against sterling from R12.5073 previously.
The euro was bid at US$1.3146 from its previous close of $1.3155.