Money SA economy
The rand remained on the back foot in late afternoon trade on Monday as the US dollar gained against its majors in "lacklustre" trade.
A local dealer said investors were cautious ahead of the economic data this week including US retail sales on Wednesday. At 3.40pm local time the rand was bid at R7.59 to the dollar, R9.55 to the euro and R11.41 to the pound. The euro was bid at U$1.2569 from $1.2645 overnight.
A local dealer said: "The rand weakened today as the US dollar posted some gains against its majors. "Trading was fairly muted, as investors wait for key economic data this week which includes US, retail sales. We are likely to see some volatility coming back into the market. The range for today is R7.55 to R7.64 to the greenback."
Dow Jones Newswires reports that the dollar gained against most of its competitors Monday, as investors took a defensive stance ahead of the start of second-quarter U.S. earnings, while casting a cautious eye toward the week's euro-zone debt auctions.
Some trepidation ahead of the July 23 release of the European bank stress tests results also kept investors from bidding the euro higher, said Dorothea Huttanus, currency analyst at DZ Bank AG in Frankfurt.
As investors anticipated those multiple events, it was "a perfect mixture to take a back seat" after the common currency bounced strongly off its $1.1876 low hit in early June, Huttanus said.
Barring the shock of a negative headline, Huttanus said light summer trade should keep the euro in a tight range against the dollar in the near term.
