Money SA economy
A firm rand traded in a tight range in afternoon play on Wednesday, amid light volume.
The local currency tracked the euro for further direction, a local dealer said.
At 3.47pm local time the rand was bid at R7.61 to the dollar, R9.61 to the euro and R11.54 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.2597 from $1.2618 overnight.
A local dealer said: "The rand is trading in a tight range of 7.62-7.68 against the dollar, tracking the euro amid thin volume".
The dealer noted that the rand would have to breach the 7.62 level to the dollar to see any real momentum.
Dow Jones Newswires reported the euro declined modestly against the dollar on Wednesday as investors await clarity about upcoming stress tests of European banks.
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors was expected to outline its methodology for the tests later in the session.
The euro's recent rise has stalled in the meantime, though the common currency remained well above $1.25.
"Perhaps it's just a sense that the euro has gone a long way quite quickly, and the stress-tests forced the market into a modest re-think," said Daragh Maher, deputy head of global foreign exchange strategy at Credit Agricole CIB in London. Disappointing manufacturing data out of Germany also weighed on the euro the Newswires concluded.
