Dollar sells for more than R7.80

A softer rand was in line with emerging market currencies in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

At 3.32pm the rand was bid at R7.8078 to the dollar from R7.64 at its previous close. It was bid at R9.58 to the euro and R11.20 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.2268 from $1.2179 previously.

A local trader said: "The rand is in line with emerging market currencies tracking under-pressure equity markets. It is not about rand weakness as such."

He said that the local currency had held up remarkably well against the majors, despite being down on the day.

Earlier, Dow Jones Newswires reported that the euro plunged to a fresh four-year low against the dollar as traders digested news that Germany's financial regulator has banned some types of short-selling in euro-zone debt and selected financial stocks.