Rand softer on China PMI data

Johannesburg – The rand remained relatively weaker in late trade‚ in line with commodity-linked currencies after weak preliminary Chinese PMI data.

At 16:06 local time the rand was trading at R8.2928 to the dollar from its previous close of R8.2261. It was trading at R10.3958 to the euro from its previous close of R10.3048 and at R13.1506 against sterling from R13.0524 before.

The euro was bid at $1.2542 from $1.2533.

The flash HSBC Chinese PMI dropped to 47.8 in July‚ a nine-month low.

Meanwhile‚ the dollar remained under selling pressure against the euro despite signs of a looming eurozone recession.

The greenback was pinned lower after the Federal Reserve signalled on Wednesday in the minutes of its latest meeting that it was actively considering a new round of quantitative easing to support the US economy.