Rand trading in ranges

Johannesburg - The rand weakened slightly from its noon levels, but was in ranges in late afternoon trade on Friday with a trader noting that the currency needed to close below the 7.65 level to see any further strength.

At 15:48 the rand was bid at 7.7367 to the dollar from 7.7308 at its previous close. It was bid at 11.4545 to the euro from its previous close of 11.4385 and was at 12.7667 against sterling from 12.7705.

The euro was bid at $1.4798 from $1.4836 overnight.

"The rand strengthened back to the technical level at 7.65. There was buying of rands from offshore and the dollar had weakened," a trader said.

"We had the trade figures out and those were positive. We are in a range and will stay in a range of about 7.65-7.85 in the short term, and we will continue to keep a close eye on what the euro does against the dollar. We need to close below 7.65 to see further rand strength."

"We will battle to get below 7.65. We might see it if the euro gets back up to the 1.50 against the dollar," he said.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that the euro slipped against the dollar in early New York trading on Friday, as investors turned cautious ahead of next week's key US interest rate-setting meeting.

Spending and income data for September are due at 8:30 a.m. EDT, but of greater importance to markets will be the 9:55 a.m. EDT release of the October Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index, which is expected to decline to 69.8, from 73.5 in September.

A better-than-expected showing could bring some risk appetite back- boosting the euro and other higher-yielding currencies-but a disappointing reading could extend the euro's losses.

Investors are settling positions, rather than adding fresh bets on gains in riskier currencies, amid concerns that better-than-expected US third quarter gross domestic product could lead the Fed to signal a sooner-than- expected change in key US interest rates.

- I-Net Bridge