Rand continues to track euro movement

The South African rand continued to track euro progress by midday on Monday, but held within a range of 7.37-45 against the greenback.

At 11.37am the rand was bid at R7.39 to the dollar, R9.95 to the euro and R11.07 to the pound.

The euro was bid at $1.3469 from $1.3387 previously.

A local trader said: "We continue to track the euro however, within a range of 7.37-45 against the dollar."

RMB analysts said in their morning report that the key issue for the rand is whether or not the promise of a Greek bailout given last week will be enough to turn the euro trend.

"The problem, though, is that it's not just the Greek story that is weighing. Recent economic data makes it clear that the EU is going to substantially lag the US in this recovery. Our forecasts assume continued multi-year downside in euro/US dollar but we expect to see a bounce against the trend on the bailout news," they said.

Local data this week includes credit data on Tuesday, the trade figures on Wednesday and the PMI on Thursday, but none should have much impact, they said.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that the euro and other high-yielding currencies remained in the ascendant Monday in Europe as the market continued to give last Thursday's Greek rescue plan the benefit of the doubt, and strong retail sales data from Japan boosted hopes for the global recovery.