Rand steady, investors fret over Greece

Johannesburg - The rand held steady against the dollar on Tuesday morning but traders were nervous about possible risk-averse sentiment later in the day after a break-down in European talks over Greece's debt.

At 08:27 the rand was trading at R11.6590/$, not far off its Monday closing level of R11.6680.


"The failure of the Greek bailout negotiations is keeping markets nervous and biases the rand towards mild losses," John Cairns, market analyst at Rand Merchant Bank, said in a note.


"There is a small risk that selling accelerates as the day progresses, particularly as New York comes back online after yesterday's holiday."



Talks between Greece and eurozone finance ministers over the country's debt broke down on Monday when Athens rejected a proposal to request a six-month extension of its international bailout and stick to the conditions.

Without support from creditors, the Greek government and banks face a looming euro cash crunch, possibly opening the way for Greece to become the first country to ditch the common currency and re-introduce its own currency.

South African government bonds were mixed, with the yield for the 2026 benchmark up 1 basis points to 7.58%.