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May 27 2012 11:21
There's a price war raging between South Africa's cellphone networks after Cell C lowered the rates of its prepaid calls by more than 34%.
May 28 2012 07:53
The City of Cape Town has spent R175m running the Myciti bus service since the Soccer World Cup compared to an income of R35m, a report says.
May 27 2012 13:09
The oversupply of golf estates has claimed another victim.
Johannesburg - The South African rand was a tad
weaker than its noon levels in late afternoon trade on Wednesday, with a
local trader saying the currency was remaining broadly in range in a quiet
session.
At 15:45 the rand was bid at 7.3904 to the dollar from 7.3630 at its
previous close. It was bid at 11.0675 to the euro from its previous close of
11.0083 and was at 12.2905 against sterling from 12.0558.
The euro was bid at $1.4994 from $1.4938 overnight.
"We are broadly still in range. Above 7.45-7.46 we might run to 7.55-
7.57. On the downside, if we break 7.27, we could move below the 7.00s," a
trader said.
"We saw the rand move to the 7.45 level on the dollar that strengthened.
The rand will hover around the 7.40 level and will remain in a range around
the 7.32-7.47 level," another trader said.
"We will have to wait and see what the Governor does tomorrow [with the
Monetary Policy Committee interest rates decision]. Markets are quiet," he
said.
Dow Jones Newswire reports that the pound is substantially stronger
against the dollar on Wednesday morning after bullish minutes from the Bank
of England, while the euro is flat after relinquishing earlier gains as
stock markets retreat.
The pound hit a high of $1.6592 overnight, its highest level since mid-
September, according to EBS via CQG, after the minutes from the Bank of
England's last meeting suggested it may not extend its GBP175 billion asset-
purchase programme next month, as had been widely expected.
"It wasn't really anything out of ordinary in the Bank of England
minutes, but it was enough that it wasn't dovish and they're holding the
line" on further asset purchases, said Steve Butler, director of foreign at
Scotia Capital in Toronto.
The pound had been oversold in recent weeks as investors bet on an
extension of the programme, so a sharp rebound is not surprising, he added.
The euro reached a high at $1.4966 in overnight trading on Wednesday,
but then receded along with stock markets.
"It was a rough day for (stocks) yesterday (Tuesday), and it looks like
right now they're going to be off to a slow start, so it's not surprising to
see New York come in this morning and try to buy some dollars," Butler said.
- I-Net Bridge