Money SA economy
The rand was a smidgen softer in late trade on Wednesday despite a weaker dollar and some gains by the euro which the local currency frequently tracks as the currency of South Africa's major trading partner, the Euro Zone.
At 4.05pm the rand was bid at R7.3317/$ from R7.2934/$ at its previous close. It was bid at R10.0077/€ from its previous close of R9.9282/€ and was at R11.3361/£ from R11.2132/£. The euro was bid at $1.3630 from $1.3614 previously.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that the dollar was lower against most rivals on Wednesday, with the euro edging up and the Canadian and Australian dollars rallying amid higher commodity prices and economic optimism after encouraging developments in Asia.
The key development overnight was news that the Monetary Authority of Singapore decided to allow the center of the Singapore dollar trading band to rise about 1.3% after gross domestic product grew an annualised 32.1% in the first quarter, much more than the 19.9% that had been expected.
