Rand remains weaker at noon

The South African rand remained weaker at noon on Tuesday, as the local unit tracked the euro, which is softer on renewed concerns over the financial health of European banks.

At 11.40am local time the rand was bid at R7.27 to the dollar, R9.27 to the euro and R11.16 to the pound. The euro was bid at USD1.2764 from USD1.2865 overnight.

"The rand does not want to go above the 7.30 level because there are exporters looking to sell at around this level," a trader said.

The trader also said the buying of South African bonds by foreign investors was providing support to the local currency.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that the euro is down on Tuesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that European bank stress tests underestimated the exposure of some major banks to sovereign debt.

The report helped to widen the bond spreads on peripheral debtors and knocked European stock markets lower as another wave of euro zone jitters hit the market.

The Australian dollar, meanwhile, got hit by the news that the country's Labor Party has finally been able to claim victory in the general election over a week ago and that the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates as well as the outlook for the economy unchanged.