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It fell one per cent to 8.1578 rand today (December 22nd) and dropped 0.3 percent to $1.0133 against the Australian dollar, Bloomberg reports.
The euro saw gains against its neighbours the yen and the Swiss franc as traders waited to hear the result of an Italian senate vote on prime minister Mario Monti's €30 billion emergency budget plan.
Ulrich Leuchtmann, head of currency strategy at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, said there is a risk of price swings being distorted by a seasonal drop in trading volumes but admitted the trading mood appears to have changed.
"Both currencies and stocks are driven by this seemingly risk-on mode that the market has reached now," he said.
Reuters noted yesterday that the euro had dropped to a session low as investors remained cautious on the outcome of the European Central Bank's latest funding move.
Posted by Clive Arneill
