The rand was flat in morning trade on Thursday as the euro tracked slightly stronger against the dollar in anticipation the European Central Bank (ECB) will adopt a more hawkish stance towards monetary stimulus. Analysts said the rand was expected to remain range bound on Thursday as markets await nonfarm payroll figures from the US on Friday as well as a possible downgrade of SA’s sovereign credit rating from Moody’s. At 9.02am the rand was at R13.1389 to the dollar from R13.1219. It was at R14.7738 to the euro from R14.7415 and at R16.8938 to the pound from R16.9095. The euro was at $1.1244 from $1.1234. South African unemployment for the first quarter of 2017 was unlikely to move the market, but along with trade surplus data from Wednesday "may well be key pieces of the puzzle we are building to show Moody’s that a downgrade of our credit rating should be avoided", TreasuryOne dealer Gerard van der Westhuizen said. "Overall the rand is still in limbo on a relatively short-term ba...
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