By Siyabonga Ntshingila ; The euro firmed up in early Tuesday trading and with it, the rand which rose off its Monday close. The euro was at $1.3510/1 from the close of $1.3487/1 previously. The local currency was trading at R7.4019/$1 at lunch, up slightly on Monday’s R7.4218/$1 close. Against the euro the rand was trading R9.9991 from Monday’s close of above R10. The rand also firmed up against the pound sterling. The euro was following Asian markets in reacting positively to news that the SEC was narrowly split over pursuing fraud charges against Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs over irregular transactions. Strong global banking results, including those of Goldman Sachs also helped buoy global markets. Goldman Sachs is expected to report over $3.4 billion in earnings for Q1 2010. This is nearly double the earnings for the same period last year. A leading German banker, Axel Webber of the Bundesbank, did cast a gloomy shadow over markets when he suggested that Greece could still need further funds in addition to the bailout package already agreed to. Greece is facing its highest finance costs in over a decade over worries about its ability to finance debt. Portugal is also facing increased financing costs and this is increasing worries that the EU may need to engage in another bailout soon. This will heighten doubts over the extent of the budget deficit crisis in Europe and may see the euro depressed in the short to medium term. At 14h06pm the rand was trading at R7.427/$1 and R10.018/1 to the euro. Gold and platinum were up to $1,141.59/oz and $1716.00/oz respectively.

Source