* Rand stuck in range, investors take some profit
* Foreigners bought local debt last week, yields steady on
Monday
JOHANNESBURG, March 12 (Reuters) – The rand steadied
against the dollar on Monday, with investors preferring to take
small profits within a two-week trading range pending fresh
direction from data due later in the week.
Trading volumes were thin and charts suggest the rand has
abandoned attempts at its 2012 high and will likely retreat
further.
The local unit was at 7.5685 at 1627 GMT, nearly
unchanged from its New York close on Friday. The rand started
the year above 8 to the dollar and has gained 6 percent since
then, strengthening to 7.4020/dollar at the end of February.
“I think the (dollar) bears are exhausted and we see a
potential base developing on the USD/ZAR charts,” said Kamran
Sheikh, a technical analyst at Informa Global Markets.
Rallies usually follow once a base has developed and been
confirmed, and may mean the market has consolidated and the
trend is dying out.
The rand is likely to find initial support near 7.6400,
which if broken would open up last week’s 7.6800 low.
Low trading volumes are expected and the currency pair may
languish in a range until mid-week when retail sales numbers are
released.
Continued…
