The rand was weaker in late afternoon trade on Thursday as the dollar made a belated comeback against major currencies, on renewed optimism of greater economic growth in the US. The dollar has been under pressure since the beginning of the week as the market tried to decipher the policy steps by the incoming administration of Donald Trump. The closure of the Dow above 20,000 points on Wednesday was the catalyst, and the market jump was supported by strong earnings by Boeing, among others. Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) analysts said the rand had shown significant resilience in the week after breaching the technically significant level at R13.40/$. "But demand for dollars from importers have been creeping into the market on this improvement," Nedbank said. At 3.44pm the rand was at R13.3752 from R13.2357. The rand firmed to R13.1968 in intraday trade. The rand was at R14.3059 against the euro from R14.2255, and at R16.8198 against the British pound from R16.7178. The ...
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