Quiet rand tracks euro
October 23, 2009
By By Gareth Vorster
The rand was quiet in the afternoon session on Friday, tracking the euro/dollar movement.
At 15.33pm the rand was bid at R7.4286/$ from R7.3822/$ at its previous close. It was bid at R11.1605/€ from its previous close of R11.1090/€ and was at R12.1683/£ from R12.2828/£.
The euro was bid at $1.5028 from $1.5025 overnight.
A local trader said: "The rand has just been tracking the flows, following movement from the euro. Other than that it has been a very quiet day."
Dow Jones Newswire reports that the euro held on to levels above $1.50 early on Friday in New York, and was little changed from its day-earlier levels after rising Asian stocks and strong eurozone economic data continued to stoke investors' appetite for the higher-yielding currency.
Sterling fell as third quarter economic growth data dashed hopes that the UK economy had emerged from the recession, instead posting the sixth consecutive contraction.
Investors are looking toward the 10 a.m. release of US existing home sales in September, expected to get one last boost from the expiring homebuyers tax credit, as an indicator of whether the US economy continues its slow march to recovery, which could boost the euro higher; a disappointment could prompt investors to shift back into the dollar.
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