Money SA economy
The rand was weaker in midday play on Thursday, choosing to ignore the firmer euro and instead following other commodity currencies, such as the Australian and New Zealand dollar, lower.
Traders said the commodity currencies were under pressure after weaker-than-expected manufacturing data from China.
At 12.35pm local time the rand was bid at R7.69 to the dollar, R9.50 to the euro and R11.51 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.2327 from $1.2229 overnight.
"The rand, and all other commodity currencies, are weaker on the back of China. We're in a range of 7.68-7.77 for today," a local currency trader said. China's Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data, released earlier, suggests a slowing of the world's third largest economy, which would raise concern about demand for commodities.
Dow Jones Newswires reports that the euro was lifted on Thursday as Spain conducted a successful bond auction and Sweden's Riksbank decided to go ahead with a hike in interest rates. The single currency also appeared to have been propelled forward as a series of stop-loss positions were broken.
