Money SA economy
The rand firmed a tad in the afternoon session on Tuesday in what a currency trader described as "surprising", amid a firmer dollar against the single currency.
At 3.39pm the rand was bid at R7.38 to the dollar, R9.95 to the euro and R11.33 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.3463 from $1.3487 previously.
A local trader said: "The rand has firmed a bit, which is surprising because the dollar has picked up against the euro. However, the rand has to break through R7.37/$ to get interesting."
Dow Jones Newswires reported that the euro surrendered most gains made on the back of a better-than-expected auction of short-term Greek debt on Tuesday as lingering, longer-term concerns over euro-zone sovereign debt weigh down the common currency.
Slow-growth economies and debt-laden peripheral countries continued to weigh on the euro, which had risen overnight well above the key $1.35 mark on the auction of short-term Greek debt, along with a surprisingly robust reading of German economic expectations.
