* Rand sold off heavily on central bank announcement, spooks
market
* Bonds little changed as nervous dealers stay out
* Central bank announcement due Saturday, 1300 GMT
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 10 (Reuters) – The rand tumbled over
2 percent against the dollar on Friday after the central bank
signalled there would be an important weekend announcement,
sparking panic selling of the rand and spooking bond traders
into pulling their prices.
The rand fell 2.6 percent against the dollar to a
nine-day low of 7.7803, off a close of 7.5845 in New York on
Thursday.
But it firmed back to 7.7390 in later trade as the market
was calmed by talk that the central bank announcement would not
be alarming.
The local unit had taken a weaker tone for most of the day
as a Greece bailout deal was further delayed, prompting
investors to dump risky assets.
It extended losses sharply after the central bank signalled
a Saturday announcement of “national importance,” by President
Jacob Zuma with Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and central bank
Governor Gill Marcus.
“Once the rumours started to fly about the central bank we
saw some panic buying, offshore banks especially were nervous
about that, buying dollars,” a local currency dealer said.
Continued…
