JOHANNESBURG Nov 5 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand firmed
slightly against the dollar on Monday but failed to break out of
a recent trading range amid uncertainty over the outcome of this
week’s U.S. election and more concerns about euro zone debt.
By 1540 GMT, the rand was trading at 8.7060 against
the greenback, 0.58 percent firmer than Friday’s close of 8.7570
in New York.
“We’re generally in the range for the time being. There’s
very little interest at the moment,” said Lee Naisbitt, a trader
at Rand Merchant Bank trader. “We are back down at support at
8.68 – 8.72 levels.”
The currency hit a 1-1/2 week low on Friday after the dollar
jumped on the back of data showing that the world’s largest
economy had created more jobs than expected in September.
Uncertainty about the U.S. election, in which incumbent
Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are neck and neck in the
polls, encouraged safe-haven flows into the U.S. currency.
The euro continued to get hammered, falling to a near
two-month low against the greenback amid concerns that Greece
will get approval on Wednesday to secure more international aid
that will allow it to stay inside the euro zone.
Government bonds were roughly steady, with yields rising a
single basis point on both the benchmark 2026 issue
and the shorter-dated paper to 7.695 percent and 5.475
percent respectively.
(Reporting By Tshepo Tshabalala; Editing by Ed Cropley)
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