South Africa's rand firms in temporary reprieve from heavy selling

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The rand firmed against the dollar in late afternoon trade on Wednesday, momentarily shrugging off domestic pressures to mirror moves on the euro after weaker than expected U.S. data. South Africa's currency has been dragged to eight-month lows in the past week as poor domestic economic data compounded an emerging market rout prompted by expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates before long. But on Wednesday, the dollar hit a session low against the euro after the United States reported weaker-than-expected manufacturing data, giving the rand a reprieve. The rand traded as firm as 11.2365 to the dollar, coming off 11.3560 hit earlier. Dealers said the breather was not likely to last, however. "We got up to 11.35 and from there its moved lower. The bigger picture for the rand is a weakening but we've seen some good selling through there, and with the combination of weaker U.S. data it's testing some stop losses," a Johannesburg-based currency trader said. Yields on government bonds came back from eight-week highs hit in the morning to trade at 8.325 percent, 1.5 basis points higher than its previous close. Official data showed sales of new cars in South Africa were up 11.5 percent in September compared with the same month last year. But the industry body said it expected 2014 sales to decline 4-5 percent compared with last year as rising interest rates, lower economic growth and above-inflation car price hikes would hit demand.