Rand holds steady in afternoon trade

The South African rand was steady in afternoon trade on Friday, holding up against the dollar, aided by a stronger euro.

Late afternoon saw the rand bid at R7.59 to the dollar, R9.39 to the euro and R11.03 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.2362 from $1.2345 previously.

A local trader said: "We are seeing continued rand strength, aided by a firm euro. The rand has come back down from 8.00 against the dollar over a the course of a few days." He noted that the euro’s rally started after China refuted speculations that it was reviewing its euro-hedged assets in Europe due to sovereign debt crisis.

Dow Jones Newswires reports the euro eked out slight gains against its major rivals Friday, taking advantage of improved investor sentiment that bolstered global stock markets.

In a sign concerns over the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis have eased somewhat, the interest rate banks charge each other for dollar-denominated lending fell for the first time in three weeks, helping to allay fears that a strain in funding conditions will put the global economic recovery in jeopardy.