The rand firmed in the afternoon session on Friday, tracking a weaker US dollar amid worse than expected non-farm payrolls data in the US.

US employers cut 20,000 jobs in January, the Labour Department reported.

At 15:57 the rand was bid at 7.6622 to the dollar from 7.6506 at its previous close. It was bid at 10.5138 to the euro from its previous close of 10.5411 and was at 12.0309 against the sterling from 12.0733.

The euro was bid at US$1.3734 from US$1.3742 previously.

A local currency trader said: "Jobs data figures were worse than expected, which led to dollar weakness against the majors. A loss of 20,000 jobs was recorded, against an expected gain of 5,000 jobs.

I would imagine things to calm down now, but we will track the euro figure against the dollar."

Dow Jones Newswire reported that the dollar gave up some overnight gains against the euro Friday morning after worse-than-expected US employment report.

Currencies fluctuated after data showed that the US economy continued to shed jobs and revisions to earlier employment reports painted a bleaker picture for 2009, casting doubt over the labour market's strength.

Friday morning in New York, the euro was at $1.3719 from $1.3741 late Thursday, according to EBS via CQG.

It's not unusual for currencies to fluctuate wildly in the immediate aftermath of closely watched data such as the monthly US employment report.

The knee-jerk reactions as investors make initial adjustment to positions don't always reflect the trend, which later becomes dominant.

Demand for safety had picked up during Asian and European trading hours on the back of renewed concern over sovereign debt problems in the euro zone, forcing the Swiss National Bank to intervene to stem a spike in the Swiss franc against the euro, according to traders. Stronger demand for safer assets also pushed the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, to its highest level since July 2009, while the euro sank to a fresh eight-month low.