The rand strengthened from its midday levels in late afternoon trade on Wednesday supported by an impressive gold price, with a trader saying it was likely that the currency could reach the 7.64 level sometime this afternoon.

The gold price jumped to a new record high of $1095.65 on Wednesday after the price continued to capitalise on the news that India had bought 200 tonnes of gold from the International Monetary Fund.

At 3.57pm the rand was bid at 7.6883 to the dollar from 7.8079 at its previous close. It was bid at 11.3645 to the euro from its previous close of 11.4973 and was at 12.6977 against sterling from 12.8290.

The euro was bid at $1.4788 from US$1.4716 overnight.

"We have strengthened a bit, stocks are looking better. This should be the bottom, we are still very thin," a trader said.

"The stronger gold price is also not hurting. The ADP employment figures came out in the US and those were better than expected.

"It will be interesting to see if we will hold. I think we should go to about 7.64 this afternoon," he said.

Dow Jones Newswires reported the euro strengthened against the dollar in early on Wednesday trading on higher stock markets in Asia and Europe.

But major currencies stayed within well-worn ranges, as investors looked toward an afternoon meeting of the Federal Reserve's interest rate-setting committee.

The Dollar Index, a trade-weighted basket of six currencies, was at 76.043, from 76.320.

ADP US employment data released on Wednesday showed a drop in October private-sector jobs of 203 000, which is what economists had expected. The number improved from September's loss of 254 000 private-sector jobs, but failed to substantially move major currencies immediately after its release.

Adding to a data-heavy day, the Institute for Supply Management releases at 10am EST its US non-manufacturing index for October, which is expected to rise to 52.0 from 50.9.

Strong rand gives shot in the arm

The strong rand in late trade on Wednesday gave South African bonds a shot in the arm of nine basis points.

Bonds had gained a mere three basis points earlier in the day, with some offshore buying being seen, but then the rand provided a spark during the afternoon session.

By 3.58pm the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 7.115 percent from a previous close of 7.150 percent. The medium-term R157 was at 8.380 percent from 8.470 percent, while the long-term R186 was at 8.980 percent from 9.060 percent.

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