Rand stable, eyes euro

Johannesburg - The rand was stable within its recent ranges in early trade on Tuesday, once again eyeing the euro for direction.

At 09:04 the rand was bid at R7.4022 to the dollar from R7.3980 at its previous close. It was bid at R10.1287 to the euro from its previous close of R10.1165 and was at R11.1243 against the sterling from R11.1302.

The euro was bid at $1.3684 from $1.3673 previously.

A local trader said he expected the rand to trade in a R7.37 to R7.45 range today. With not much going on, the local currency would continue to watch the euro.

"The rand is fairly stable. We are seeing flows from offshore and importer demand to offset that," he added.

The euro is off its highs of Monday of around $1.3750 and all eyes are now on the US Federal Reserve and its comments on interest rates.

Dow Jones Newswires reported the yen is higher against major rivals, which are under some technical pressure, as investors await the results of the Fed's meeting later on Tuesday, and the BOJ's policy decision on Wednesday.

Investors will be watching for any clues on the future path of Fed policy in the statement following the rate decision. The Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged near zero.

"Investors are going to be watching the language that comes out of the (Fed) meeting," said Carol Hurley, senior market strategist at brokerage firm Lind-Waldock in Chicago.

The euro is under pressure ahead of a meeting of European Union finance ministers on Tuesday that could provide more clarity about a bailout package for Greece, should Athens find itself unable to meet its debt obligations.

In Japan, investors grew cautious ahead of the results from the Federal Reserve and BOJ policy meetings.

- I-Net Bridge