Rand remains range bound in PM trade

The rand continued its range bound trade in the afternoon session on Monday, lacking any clear direction.

At 3.39pm the rand was bid at R7.67 to the dollar, R10.46 to the euro and R11.90 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.3618 from $1.3628 previously.

A local currency trader said: "Range bound trading has been the order of the day on Monday, with no clear direction for the rand. We saw selling interest at R7.71/$, and the euro came off a bit against the dollar."

Dow Jones Newswire reported that the euro was under pressure early on Monday in New York as renewed concerns over sovereign debt problems in Europe prompted investors to seek the perceived safety of the yen and the dollar.

The common currency struggled to trade above $1.36 level, while it hovered near the day's low against the yen, on the back of comments by a German Finance Ministry's spokesman that no decision has been made regarding aid for fiscally stressed Greece.