Money SA economy
The South African rand gained ground in morning trade on Wednesday in line with the euro, which recovered against the dollar, supported by an improved appetite for risk.
A local dealer said that positive US housing and consumer confidence data boosted market sentiment. At 08.40am local time the rand was bid at R7.35 to the dollar, R9.34 to the euro and R11.32 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.2718 from $1.2685 overnight.
A trader said: "The rand bounced off the 7.4370 level on Tuesday as the euro recovered its losses against the US dollar amid positive consumer and housing data in the US. For the rest of day, we will be tracking the single currency for direction."
RMB analysts noted in a morning report that the rand started to reflect the concerns over the slowing global economy for the first time on Tuesday, weakening against all the major crosses, with USD/rand pushing to a new high of R7.43/$.
Dow Jones Newswires reports that the yen gave up overnight gains against the dollar and euro in Asian trading Wednesday, as stronger regional share markets cut into demand for the safe-haven Japanese unit, which was also hit by statements from a highly influential politician favouring direct intervention by Japan.
