Rand holds below R10/$ in quiet range-bound trade

"There is nothing to move the market‚ so we are expecting a dull day‚" a local foreign exchange trader said.

In morning trade‚ the rand was bid at R9.9972 to the dollar from Thursday's (15 August) close of R9.9693 and Wednesday's close of R9.9633.

Against the euro‚ the rand was bid at R13.3357 from its previous close of R13.3050 and was at R15.6135 against sterling from R15.5825 at its previous close.

The euro was bid at $1.3339 from $1.3345 at Thursday's close and $1.3258 at Wednesday's close.

Absa Capital said in its morning report that Thursday's rand short-covering had again proved short-lived due to upbeat US data.

"Yesterday's US inflation data were in line with market expectations‚ but it was the release of some encouraging US labour data that buoyed US dollar bulls as the labour data enhanced expectations that the Fed could start tapering next month‚" Absa Capital said.

"The stronger US dollar hindered precious metal prices‚ which in turn provided a double whammy for the rand and caused the local unit to weaken sharply during the afternoon session‚ back above the R10 per dollar handle.

"Yesterday's price action served as a reminder of just how susceptible the rand is at the moment to global developments.

"As a consequence‚ if today's US housing data also prove encouraging‚ then we would expect the rand to lose further ground into the weekend. Thus‚ we maintain that the odds are still stacked against the rand for now‚" the bank said.