Rand drops against the dollar

The rand was a touch softer against the US dollar in afternoon trade on Thursday tracking a weaker euro, which came under renewed pressure.

However, on the crosses, a trader noted that the rand had gained marginally against the euro and the pound respectively.

He said the South African Reserve Bank's (SARB's) decision to keep the repo rate unchanged had been expected, and therefore had no effect on the rand. The SARB elected to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5%.

At 3.42pm the rand was bid at R7.46 to the dollar and R9.39 to the euro and R10.98 to the pound.

Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires reports that the euro and UK pound are down on Thursday as concerns about the negative economic effects of austerity measures robbed both currencies of their overnight gains.