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Johannesburg - The rand steadied against the dollar on
Thursday and should remain in ranges ahead of manufacturing output data that
will be released at 11:00 GMT.
A Reuters survey showed production growth is expected to
slow to 0.7% year-on-year in November from 1.0% in October.
"If it comes out weak, you could get a spike in the
rand (weakening) but local data really has little impact. It's external factors
that are the driver," said Warwick Butler a dealer a Standard Bank.
The rand was trading at R8.0850 against the dollar at 06:46
GMT, not far from Wednesday’s New York close of R8.0880.
Abroad, the European Central Bank’s decision and debt
auctions in Italy and Spain should inform risk sentiment.
"If ...the market is not convinced that the ECB is
being sufficiently accommodative and/or the auctions are not well received,
then the rand and other risky assets are likely to weaken," Absa Capital
said in a note.
Against the euro, the rand was trading at R10.2719, and
looked to be on a firming trend after breaching the 200-day moving average of
R10.3673 this week.
Standard Bank’s Butler said investors have been moving out
of Europe in the past month and into emerging market assets. This could see the
rand dip below R8.00 to the dollar in the next few weeks.
Government bonds firmed, with dealers looking to the year's
first monetary policy meeting next week, and in particular the Reserve Bank's
statement, for clues on the trajectory of interest rates.
The yield on the 2015 note fell four basis points to 6.765%
and that on the 2026 note was down three basis points to 8.555%.
Local stock futures pointed to a positive start on the
bourse at 07:00 GMT, with the JSE’s Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] futures
contract up 0.25%
