Johannesburg - The rand was firmly placed in the afternoon session on Wednesday tracking a stronger euro with fiscally troubled Greece very much at the fore.
At 15:52 the rand was bid at R7.5249 to the dollar from R7.5953 at its previous close. It was bid at R10.2652 to the euro from its previous close of R10.3383 and was at R11.3066 against the sterling from R11.3948.
The euro was bid at $1.3654 from $1.3619 previously.
A local currency trader said: "We are seeing a stronger rand, having broken R7.56 against the dollar, which was quite a significant support level.
"Interestingly the euro didn't react much to negative news in Europe on Greece, where Germany said it would not discuss bailout support.
The euro is a bit firmer against the dollar for now. And with the rand having broken R7.56 against the dollar, it opens the door for rand strength, with the range at R7.51-R7.61," the trader said.
The Dow Jones Newswires reported dollar is lower against the euro on Wednesday morning after markets embraced the latest austerity program from authorities in fiscally troubled Greece.
The dollar recovered some strength against the euro after reports the leaders of Germany and Greece won't discuss aid for fiscally troubled Greece at a meeting on Friday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou are scheduled to meet in Berlin on Friday, but reports on Wednesday indicated the discussions would not involve aid for Greece.
"That is weighing on the euro at this point because the market had held out some hope that something would come from that meeting in terms of a concrete bailout," said Amelia Bourdeau, senior G-10 currency strategist at UBS AG in Stamford, Conn.
Greek authorities announced a range of measures embracing spending cuts and tax increases, which includes a rise in value-added tax, a cut in salary bonuses and a freeze of state pensions. They are expected to raise €4.8bn.
The euro rallied in earlier trading in response to the austerity measures, reaching a session high at $1.3671 before ceding some of its gains.
"I think the market received it well," said Stephen Gallo, head of market analysis at Schneider Foreign Exchange in London.
Although the euro rose to its highest level for the day, it remains firmly within recent trading ranges, failing to stage any significant rally.
"The dollar strength will stick around and it's going to be difficult to see headway in euro/dollar above $1.37, certainly," said Schneider's Gallo.
On Wednesday morning, the euro was at $1.3655 from $1.3607 late on Tuesday.
- I-Net Bridge