Holding action

RMB AM and Business Day report that the rand briefly firmed 1,4% to its best levels in nearly three weeks yesterday and more gains were likely as investors awaited US trade data today which are expected to approach record highs.

The rand's gains were buoyed by the euro which raced to its strongest levels in 10 days on concerns around the bulging US trade deficit, which soared to a record high last year.

In late afternoon, the rand was trading at R6,1325 against the dollar, after earlier touching R6,0610 - its strongest level since March 22. It closed at R6,1515 to the dollar on Friday.

With the US trade figures tomorrow, markets are expecting a bad number.... if that's the case one trader said that he thought the rand could test R6 to the dollar.

The dollar weakened yesterday as dealers used potentially dollar-negative US data this week as an excuse to lock in profits from the currency's recent gains.

After hitting multi-month highs against the euro and yen last week, the dollar, in a session largely devoid of US economic data, continued its decline, which started on Friday.

In late trading yesterday, the euro was up 0,3% at $1,2973 as was sterling at $1,8907.