The rand was flat on Friday morning after the local currency weakened over 1 percent on Thursday due to consolidation.
“The local currency also has to deal with thin trading volumes. This is one of the main reasons why we are seeing such big movements in the market. The rand should remain stable against the dollar in the long term‚” said Tony van Dyk‚ a currency dealer at the Iquad Group.
At 8.30am‚ the rand was bid at R8.5908 to the US dollar from its previous close of R8.5878 on Thursday. The local currency was bid at R11.2003 to the euro from its previous close of R11.1809 and at R13.8089 against sterling from R13.7981 before.
The euro was bid at $1.3044 from its overnight close of $1.3023.
“We have seen some demand from importers‚ which can have a big effect on the currency. The rand is tracking the euro‚ which has weakened against the dollar in the last couple of hours‚” Van Dyk said.
Bonds follow rand‚ US treasurys weaker
The South African bond market was up to five basis points weaker in early trade on Friday‚ due to a softer currency and weaker US Treasurys.
At 9am the benchmark R186 was trading at 7.375 percent from a previous close of 7.295 percent. The R157 was trading at 5.380 percent from 5.355 percent previously and the R207 was bid at 6.360 percent and offered at 6.330 percent from its previous close of 6.310 percent.
The rand was last bid at R8.6002 to the US dollar from R8.5878 previously.
SAA denied rumours that its acting chief executive Nico Bezuidenhout had lied about his qualifications.
Thousands of farmers have applied to employ foreign workers after the introduction of a new minimum wage.
The rand plunged to its weakest level against the dollar in close to four years on Thursday.
