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Johannesburg – The rand weakened slightly against the US dollar just before noon on Friday as fears over the looming fiscal cliff in the US triggered safe-haven purchasing of dollars.
“There is still uncertainty over the fiscal cliff in the US‚ as leaders have hinted that there is no clear-cut agreement at the moment. If a deal is not struck the US could face a downgrade and thus fall into recession‚” Vunani Private Clients global market analyst Kuziva Muganiwa said.
At 11:39‚ the rand was bid at R8.5035/$ from its close of R8.4778 on Thursday. The local currency was bid at R11.2098/€ from its previous close of R11.2293 and at R13.6809 against sterling from R13.6571 before.
The euro was bid at $1.3185 from its overnight close of $1.3247.
“The benchmark bonds have not been supported by liquidity and thus have not moved by much; this has not helped the local currency‚” Muganiwa said.
