Money SA economy
The South African rand gained ground in afternoon trade on Friday, supported by the firmer euro against the greenback following poor US jobs data.
A local dealer said the US nonfarm payrolls data indicated the fragility of the US economic recovery, hence the dollar weakness against major currencies.
The rand was bid at R7.21 to the dollar, R9.59 to the euro and R11.51 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.3289 from $1.3179 overnight.
A local dealer said: "The rand has gathered strength on the back of the stronger euro against the US dollar following the poor US jobs data. The rand is however struggling to break below the key 7.20 level at the moment."
Dow Jones Newswires reports that the US economy shed more jobs than expected in July while the unemployment rate held steady at 9.5%, a further sign the economic recovery may be losing momentum.
Nonfarm payrolls fell by 131,000 last month as the rise in private-sector employment was not enough to make up for the government jobs lost, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday. Only 71,000 private-sector jobs were added last month while 143,000 temporary workers on the 2010 census were let go.
