Rand remains strong against the dollar

The rand remained on the front foot in midday trade on Wednesday amid a firming euro.

At 11.36am the rand was bid at R7.30 to the dollar, R9.85 to the euro and R11.07 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.3460 from $1.3424 previously.

A local trader said: "The euro has prepped up slightly against the dollar, having declined overnight. We are seeing support for the rand at 7.31 against the dollar.

"If the euro remains well bid, we should see a stronger rand overall," he said.

Dow Jones Newswires reports positioning ahead of key data reports from the US and Japan later this week as well as the Easter holidays is helping the euro to reverse some of its earlier losses in Europe Wednesday.

Concern over Greece's ability to fund its budget deficit at a reasonable cost remains the prime factor driving market sentiment, but hopes that US employment numbers will show a strong improvement and encourage speculation of a rise in US interest rates is providing financial markets with some stability.

Meanwhile, expectations of more positive news on the US economy have risen after the latest Conference Board consumer confidence survey Tuesday showed the main sentiment index rising to 52.5 from 46.4, rather than just increasing to 51 as forecast.