The rand held steady‚ with a firmer bias‚ against the US dollar at noon on Friday‚ as market players looked to the Greek elections on Sunday and potential fallout for forex markets.

The outcome of the election is set to determine the country’s future in the eurozone.

At 11:52 the rand was bid at R8.3522 to the dollar from Thursday’s close of R8.3667. It was bid at R10.5437 to the euro from its previous close of R10.5588 and at R12.9857 against sterling from R13.0021 before.

Gold was trading at US$1624.28 per ounce.

The euro was bid at US$1.2623‚ unchanged from Thursday’s close of  $1.2623.

“The appetite for risk has improved on a relative basis. The current key support level for the rand is at 8.35 to US dollar‚” said a local dealer.

“But going into the weekend‚ the guys might want to clear their positions ahead of the Greek polls.”
Standard Bank analysts said in a note on Friday that risk sentiment received a boost on Thursday after reports circulated that leading central banks were considering taking action to boost liquidity in global markets. “Given our expectation of a positive outcome in Greece‚ however‚ the rand  could be in for further short-term gains next week‚” the analysts said.

Front end continues to be well bid


The front end of the South African bond curve continued to be well bid in quiet midday trade even though traders said volume was light ahead of Sunday’s Greek election.

“We are seeing some position squaring ahead of the weekend‚ so volumes are light. The front end remains well bid on rate cut hopes‚ but I think it depends on what happens after the Greek election‚” a local trader said.

At 12:04‚ the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 6.070 percent from Thursday’s close of  6.130 percent. The R207 was bid at 7.395 percent and offered at 7.365 percent from a previous close of 7.450 percent and the R186 was trading at 8.115 percent from its previous close of 8.205 percent.