Rand firmer before lunch

The rand was a fraction firmer by midday on Monday tracking the euro, but within a narrow range.

At 11.37am the rand was bid at R7.63 to the dollar, R10.42 to the euro and R11.83 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.3616 from $1.3628 previously.

A local currency trader said: "The range is R7.64-R74 against the dollar. We did test below R7.64 twice, but we are still very much range bound.

"The biggest driver is the dollar's performance all-round."

RMB analysts noted in their morning report that every time US dollar/rand looks about to break lower, another bout of euro weakness sends the local currency straight back into the middle to upper end of the R7.58-R7.75 range.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that in the foreign exchange markets, the euro has posted two-week highs against the yen, amid more demand for the risk-sensitive unit.