THE rand weakened in the afternoon on Thursday as wildcat strikes in South Africa spread to the motoring industry and investors eye the European Central Bank (ECB) announcement of its latest monetary policy decision.
At 11.29am, the rand was bid at R8.4853 to the dollar from R8.4137 at Wednesday’s close. It was bid at R10.9699 to the euro from its previous close of R10.8765 and at R13.6656 against sterling from R13.5536 before.
The euro was bid at $1.2936 from $1.2919 at Wednesday’s close.
"The weakening on Thursday morning was due to more strikes — now in the car sector. We haven’t seen the big wave of money that was supposed to hit our shores due to South Africa’s inclusion in the world government bond index. All eyes will be on the ECB rate decision later. We believe it will remain unchanged," said Lynden Reabow, a foreign exchange sales trader from PSG Prime.
