Money SA economy
The South African rand was firm against the dollar in noon trade on Monday, amid speculation of financial aid for Greece.
The local currency tracked a steady euro against the greenback.
At 11.41am the rand was bid at R7.63 to the dollar, R10.43 to the euro and R11.58 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.3638, unchanged from previously.
"The dollar/rand is off on the back of talk of possible aid in Greece," a local currency trader said, adding that local PMI data also came in positive.
RMB analysts said in their morning report that Greece continues to be the focus of attention and so the driver of the rand and all global markets.
"For no obvious reason, there is now hope that the announcement of the long awaited EU bailout plan is imminent. More realistically, the Greek government looks very likely to announce a new fiscal austerity plan this week.
If this is taken well by the markets then they could follow up immediately with a debt issuance, in turn taking some pressure off their cash constraints," RMB analysts John Cairns and Nema Ramkhelawan said.
US dollar/rand consequently looks set to trade around 7.70 at the opening. US ISM will be the main focus today. Support is still evident at US dollar/rand 7.65. First resistance is at 7.75," RMB said.
