* Rand among strongest EM currencies on the day
* Bonds largely flat after last week’s rally
JOHANNESBURG, April 24 (Reuters) – The rand touched its
highest in almost three weeks against the dollar on Tuesday and
was among the strongest-performing emerging currencies but
government bonds edged up only slightly as some of the recent
buoyant demand for local debt tapered off.
The rand hit a session high of 7.7680 to the
greenback, its firmest level since April 4, and was up 0.6
percent at 7.7927 by 1543 GMT.
“The euro helped it a bit firmer. It’s been quite buoyant
today, and it helped the rand test support levels to the
downside,” RMB trader Ian Martin said.
Having breached a key technical line on the chart at 7.82,
the rand could now target 7.77 to the dollar.
“If we manage to close below 7.77 today, we should start
targeting the all-important 7.70 level again,” Martin said.
Government bond yields crept lower after a weekly government
auction showed lukewarm demand, particularly at the longer end
of the yield curve.
The yield on the benchmark three-year bond closed
four basis points lower at 6.49 percent while that for the
14-year issue dipped two basis points to 8.165
percent.
Continued…
