South Africa rand weakens, tracks euro moves

23 Apr, 2012

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand weakened against the dollar on Monday as it tracked the euro, with European countries coming under pressure from other world powers to do more to fix debt-heavy economies in the region.

The rand was trading at 7.84 to the dollar at 0632 GMT, 0.31 percent weaker than Friday's close of 7.815.

Financial leaders from around the world, who wrapped up talks in Washington over the weekend, agreed to provide the International Monetary Fund with a further $430 billion to safeguard economies from the euro zone debt crisis.

The euro zone was the only economy singled out in a set of broad policy recommendations by the IMF's steering committee.

"The rand is a bit weaker this morning mainly on the back of the euro, which dipped below 1.32 again," said a Johannesburg-based trader.

Government bond yields inched up 2 basis points, with the 2015 bond at 6.475 percent and that on the longer dated 2026 note at 8.12.

Copyright Reuters, 2012

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