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Johannesburg - The rand held steady against the dollar in
early Tuesday trade but remained vulnerable to global investor jitters over the
eurozone debt crisis which pushed the currency to three-year lows at the start
of this month.
The currency appeared unfazed by news that South Africa had
committed $2bn of its reserves towards a $456bn IMF fund to deal with the
effects of the eurozone woes on the global economy.
Government bonds were a touch softer ahead of a weekly
auction likely to add R2.1bn of paper to the secondary market.
Yields on the three-year and 14-year benchmarks each added one basis point to 6.12% and
8.155% respectively.
By 06:47 GMT the rand was at R8.3005 against the greenback,
little-moved from its previous day close of R8.29.
But sentiment remains wary despite a brief rally on Monday
after a positive outcome to elections in debt-ridden Greece which allayed some
fears of a messy exit from the eurozone, a key trading partner for South
Africa.
The rand, which is highly vulnerable to swings in risk
appetite because of the liquid nature of its market, has suffered some of the
heaviest losses against the dollar among emerging market currencies this year,
hitting a trough of R8.71 on June 1.
“The rand has managed to maintain its recent gains and the
firmer bias could remain intact in the short term,” Standard Bank strategist
Nomvuyo Guma said.
“However, with so much happening on the global front, the rand remains at the mercy of offshore developments.”
