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    S.Africa's rand fails to hold on to gains vs dollar

    Reuters – Wed, Mar 6, 2013

    JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand ceded earlier gains against the dollar on Wednesday, just failing to dip below the key 9.0 level, hit by lingering concerns about the country's economic fundamentals and a selloff in the euro.

    The rand was at 9.0870 to the dollar at 1542 GMT, down 0.6 percent from its close in New York on Tuesday, after touching a session high of 9.0100.

    The euro, the currency of South Africa's largest trading bloc partner, fell against the dollar on Wednesday amid concerns that the European Central Bank could hint at further interest rate cuts at its monthly policy-setting meeting on Thursday.

    Modest inflows into the local bond market and worries about South Africa's widening budget and current account deficits also weighed on the rand.

    "Foreign flows (are) very small today and the underlying fundamentals remain a concern so the rand is slightly weaker on the close," said Brigid Taylor, head of institutional sales at Nedbank.

    Government bonds firmed, with the yield on the 2026 issue down 3 basis points at 7.310 percent and the 2015 paper's yield 1.5 basis points lower at 5.305 percent.

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