Rand steadies on eurozone concerns

Johannesburg - The rand steadied on Friday against the dollar but remained under pressure from a weaker euro and the debt crisis sweeping its major European trading partners.

The rand was slightly firmer at R8.3455 at 06:46 GMT from New York’s Thursday close of R8.3625 per dollar.

“It seems as if markets took a breather in a day that saw little new information on the unfolding drama in the eurozone,” Rand Merchant Bank wrote in a client note.

“We expect uncertainty to remain high until there’s clarity over the future of the eurozone.”

Government bonds opened flat, with the benchmark yield at 6.35% for the three-year bond and the 14-year paper slipping half a basis point to R8.32.

Bonds gained on Thursday after the Reserve Bank left rates unchanged. Analysts suggested the bank’s statement sounded dovish with it forecasting a lower inflation number.

Treasury is due to auction R500m of the 2018, R800m of the 2031 and R800m of the 2036 nominal inflation-linked bonds at 09:00 GMT.

On the bourse, the JSE’s blue-chip Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] June futures contract was up 0.06% before the 07:00 GMT start of trade, pointing to a positive start.