Rand stays firm as euro holds on to gains

Johannesburg - The rand remained firmer against the dollar in late afternoon trade on Monday as it tracked a euro that had held on to earlier gains on the news of the Greek approval of austerity measures.

"Today we recovered fairly nicely after that SA Reserve Bank media notification on Friday caused the markets to take fright," a local currency trader said, referring to the announcement which turned out not to have been market moving, but merely news that the appearance of SA's banknotes would change.

"The euro also recovered from its worst levels, however, today has been lacklustre and fairly quiet - the mid-term school break in the UK may have something to do with the UK market being subdued," the trader added.

At 18:00 local time, the rand was bid at R7.7034 to the dollar from its previous close of R7.7433. It was bid at R10.1735 to the euro from R10.2254 before, and at R12.1498 against sterling from R12.1933 previously.

The euro was bid at $1.3216 from its previous close of $1.3239.

Meanwhile Dow Jones Newswires reported that a cautiously optimistic tone in the currency markets following Greece's approval of swinging austerity measures over the weekend had underpinned the euro and other currencies deemed as risky bets during European trading hours on Monday.

But the atmosphere was far from celebratory, as traders remained concerned about further hurdles ahead in the riot-stricken country's efforts to secure an essential second bailout from international bodies.