Johannesburg – The rand tracked the euro weaker against the US dollar before noon on Friday as thin trading volumes continued to weigh.
“We are seeing some dollar strength today as continued importer action weakens the local currency‚” said Ockert van Niekerk‚ head of trading at PSG.
At 11:21am‚ the rand was bid at R8.6439 to the US dollar from its previous close of R8.5878 on Thursday. The local currency was bid at R11.2349 to the euro from its previous close of R11.1809 and at R13.8756 against sterling from R13.7981 before.
The euro was bid at $1.3005 from its overnight close of $1.3023.
“We are also still experiencing some very thin trading levels in the market‚ so relatively small moves will sway the rand in any direction. We are expecting to return to normal levels by next week‚ once the holidays are over‚” Van Niekerk said.