Money SA economy
The rand was steady in afternoon trade on Monday amid light volumes.
A local dealer said the South African unit was trapped in 7.29 to 7.32 range against the US dollar, with no fresh data to provide support. At 03.46pm local time local time the rand was bid at R7.30 to the dollar, R9.28 to the euro and R11.34 to the pound.
The euro was bid at $1.2701 from $1.2753 overnight.
A local dealer said: "The market traded in a narrow band today, with the UK market closed for a holiday."
Dow Jones Newswires reports that the dollar declined against the yen Monday after measures announced by the Bank of Japan in response to the yen's strength disappointed currency markets.
The greenback reversed gains made in anticipation of the outcome of the BOJ's emergency meeting.
The announcement of an extension of the BOJ's loan programme was deemed insufficient to curb the Japanese currency's advance.
The BOJ policy board bank agreed to loosen monetary policy by adding another Y10 trillion in six-month funds into the market at an ultra-low rate of 0.1%, expanding on its current program of three-month loans. The extra funding is meant to lower interbank interest rates and thereby help stop, or at least slow, the recent heavy fund flow into the yen.
