Currencies (6.7.04)

The rand was slightly softer against major currencies in late afternoon trade yesterday on the back of importer demand for dollars in a quiet, flow-driven market.

RMB AM reports however, currency traders saw the rand's losses as limited and expected it to remain range bound for the rest of the day.

In late afternoon, the rand was quoted at R6,1701 to the dollar from an overnight close of R6,1450 on Friday. It was quoted at R7,5772 to the euro from Friday's R7,5092 and at R11,3070 against sterling from R11,2390.

A currency trader said that with US markets closed because it was Independence Day on Sunday, the market was very quiet.

The rand has weakened just on importer dollar buying, but it should stay in a R6,10-R6,20 range.

The dollar slid on Friday following the release of weak US jobs data and this saw the rand rally to R6,07 its best level since January 2000.

The dollar rose against other major currencies yesterday. The euro was quoted at $1,2272, down from $1,2287 on Friday.