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Johannesburg – The rand weakened before noon on Tuesday as rumours persisted that Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti was going to resign.
“The latest South African retail sales were much worse than expected but had a very small impact on the rand.
"Rumours about the Italian PM’s possible resignation has been very negative for the rand as it raised uncertainty in markets. Italy is important to SA as it is the second biggest economy in the EU‚” said Mark Kalkwarf‚ a senior portfolio manager from the Iquad Group.
At 11:33‚ the rand was bid at R8.6820/$ from Monday’s close of R8.6679. The local currency was bid at R11.2481/€ from its previous close of R11.2120 and at R13.9519 against sterling from R13.9196 before.
The euro was bid at $1.2958 from Monday’s close of $1.2935.
“We are in holiday mode so small orders will tend to move the market due to liquidity‚” Kalkwarf said.
