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JOHANNESBURG — The rand was firmer against major currencies yesterday as the euro gained on the dollar amid indications that a populist surge among Dutch voters may be contained in elections.

Latest polls suggest the right-wing Dutch PVV party might get as few as 21-25 seats, implying it will be only the second-largest party in the country.

The party would have to get more than 30 to have any real chance of being strong enough in the 150-seat parliament to form a government. “That seems unlikely and the worse the PVV does, the better for risk assets and the better for the euro,” said Rand Merchant Bank analyst John Cairns.

At 11.41am the rand was at 13,0976 against the dollar from 13,1533. It was at 13,9232 against the euro from 13,9655 and at 15,9707 against the pound from 15,9945. The euro was at $1,0630 from $1,0608.

The rand was trading in a narrow range of between 13,16 and 13,08 ahead of an expected US interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve later in the day.

Analysts said that the increased US interest rate could cause the rand to lose ground as demand for the dollar increases due to higher returns on dollar-denominated securities.

The local currency has been fairly resilient, losing 0,62 percent against the greenback so far this week after gaining 1,25 percent from a weakest level of 13,36 last week. — BDLive