THE rand was slightly weaker at midday on Tuesday as a result of the stronger dollar.
At 11.30am the rand was at R11.5971 against the dollar from a previous close of R11.5747.
Against the euro, the local unit was at R13.0912 from a previous close of R13.1064 and was at R17.6419 against the British pound from a previous close of R17.6075.
The euro was at $1.1295 against the dollar from a close of $1.1324.
Bidvest Bank chief currency dealer Ion de Vleeschauwer said the rand lost a "sizeable chunk" of its February gains on Friday due to stronger than expected US payrolls data as they indicated a more resilient US economy.
"Even if the US Federal Reserve does not hike by mid-2015, the appearance of it moving towards policy normalisation in the face of other major central banks loosening policy, leaves the dollar as the firmly favoured safe-haven currency."
Eskom’s load-shedding was just beginning to affect the economy, he said. "We expect this to dampen the trade-weighted performance of the rand in months ahead."
The market is waiting for Statistics SA to release manufacturing production data for December.
The data are likely to show an increase in production in December after contracting by 1.3% year on year in November — if the Kagiso purchasing managers index is anything to go by.
The index, which gauges activity in manufacturing, was slightly above 50 in December. A level above 50 suggests expansion in manufacturing activity.
However, increases in manufacturing production are likely to be modest as electricity supply remains under pressure and globally manufacturing production has shown little growth.
Earlier in the day, Stats SA released jobs figures, which showed that unemployment fell to 24.3% in the fourth quarter of last year — its lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2013 — from 25.4% in the third quarter.
