Rand slightly firmer in morning trade

"We had a recovery from the over-sold situation on Monday‚ but where we go from here will be very much news driven‚" a local foreign exchange dealer said.

At 8.48am‚ the rand was bid at R8.7285 to the dollar from Tuesday's close of R8.74513‚ Monday's worst level of R8.9945 and Monday's close of R8.8855.

It was bid at R11.2186 to the euro from its previous close of R11.2606‚ and at R13.9468 against the pound from R13.9898 before.

The euro was bid at $1.2862 from $1.2873 at Tuesday's close and $1.2965 at Monday's close.

RMB said in its morning report that the rand made its first substantial recovery in eight trading days yesterday and has continued the momentum into this morning.

"Just as losses led to more losses we could easily now see the reverse. The problem‚ however‚ is that the news flow is terrible‚" it said.

"Yesterday's rand rally was partially based on the news that the freight industry strike has been resolved. As it turns out‚ this news was incorrect: only 5‚500 truckers are returning to work - the 28‚000 workers represented by SATAWU remain unhappy with the terms offered. There has also been another 4‚000 mine workers fired because of illegal strike action."

"The global backdrop is also negative. Fears over the global economy and what the US corporate reporting season will bring have combined with a negative IMF assessment on Spain's budget to cause a minor bout of risk aversion. Global equities and risk assets already felt the hit yesterday but look to continue the negative tone today.

"Commodities remain on a down trend amid worries over the global outlook. Gold is no exception - down nearly $20 this week - as the stronger dollar pushed the price down. The oil price‚ however‚ is ticking up‚ shrugging off bearish demand factors as escalating turmoil in the Middle East heighten concerns of a supply disruption in the region.

"The latest statistics from Andrew Levy show 1.6 million man-days were lost to strikes in the year to end September. This is relative to 5.4 million in the same period last year and 14.6 million in 2010‚" the bank concluded.