The rand inched down against a recovering dollar in early trade yesterday, showing little real direction in holiday-thinned trading volumes in the last week of this year.
At 0657 GMT, the rand traded at 15.7800 against the dollar, 0.1 percent weaker than its overnight close of 15.7650.
“The local currency touched an intraday worst level of R15.83 (yesterday) as it underperformed versus its emerging market peers,” said Andre Cilliers, a currency strategist at TreasuryONE.
“This morning (yesterday)finds the rand trading a touch softer. A break above the R15.85 level could open the way for a move back to the R15.95/R16.00 area.”
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against major peers, rose as high as 96.240 versus Monday’s close of 96.068, moving up against most other majors after the euro lost 0.14 percent on Tuesday.
Trading in the rand was thin as most traders took time off for either Christmas or end of the year.
In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark 2030 government bond was down 7.5 basis points to 9.325 percent.
REUTERS