Rand unchanged at midday

The South African rand was little changed by midday, stable within its recent ranges and eyeing the euro for direction.

At 11.35am the rand was bid at R7.38 to the dollar, R10.12 to the euro and R11.14 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.3682 from $1.3673 previously.

A local trader said he expected the rand to trade in a 7.37 to 7.45 range today. With not much going on, the local currency would continue to watch the euro.

With very little fresh news to give impetus, both the rand and the euro are little changed. The euro is off its highs of Monday of around $1.3750 and all eyes are now on the US Federal Reserve and its comments on interest rates.

Dow Jones Newswires reported major currency movements are expected to be curbed by speculation that the Bank of Japan might ease its monetary policy even further and the US Federal Reserve will signal a shift towards exiting its easy monetary stance. Both central banks will complete their recent policy meetings over the course of Wednesday.