Johannesburg – The rand was weaker in midday trade on Friday as traders reacted to Lonmin miners not accepting the proposed wage offer.
“The rand recovered after Bernanke’s speech‚ which saw the Fed offering $40bn a month in QE3‚” said Mark Kalkwarf‚ a senior portfolio manager from Iquad Group.
At 11:27‚ the rand was bid at R8.2652 to the dollar from R8.2365 at Thursday’s close. It was bid at R10.7627 to the euro from its previous close of R10.7043 and at R13.3851 against sterling from R13.3008 before. The euro was bid at $1.3029 from $1.2994 at Thursday’s close.
“The rand improved to R8.20 against the dollar; but the miners not accepting the wage offer at Lonmin has had a big impact on the currency‚” he added.