The rand was slightly weaker on Friday morning after gaining 14c in late afternoon trade on Thursday as the European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates to record lows.
At 8.18am, the rand was at R10.7062 to the dollar from Thursday’s close of R10.6832.
Against the euro, the rand was at R14.6166 from its previous close of R14.5997 and at R17.9970 to the pound from Thursday’s close of R17.9531.
The euro was at $1.3655 from its previous close of $1.3660.
Barclays Research said in an early morning note that the rand, together with a number of other emerging-market currencies, rallied in the wake of Thursday’s ECB policy meeting because the accommodative measures announced by ECB president Mario Draghi rekindled the demand for carry trades.
“However, the rand struggled to sustain these gains and again underperformed most of its high-yielding currency peers. Lingering risks, such as a possible credit rating downgrade next Friday and the possibility of more widespread industrial action, help to explain the rand’s underperformance.
“We think there is a risk that this afternoon’s US employment report could prove stronger than expected and the rand could lose more ground into the weekend if this report does surprise to the upside,” said Barclays.
Dow Jones Newswires said economists expected US nonfarm payrolls to show an increase of 210 000 in May. A total of 288 000 new jobs were created in April. The unemployment rate is expected to edge up to 6.4% from 6.3% in April.