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Johannesburg - The rand was largely flat against the dollar on Monday compared with its previous close, but was off last week's five-year lows as weak US jobs data weighed on the greenback.
The local unit was trading at 10.6650 against the dollar by early Monday morning, just 0.14% softer than Friday's close in New York.
The rand has clawed back significant ground after slumping to 10.8330 on Thursday, its weakest since late 2008. The boost came from surprisingly soft US jobs data released on Friday.
"The weak US payrolls number has brought some much needed relief for the rand," said RMB currency analyst John Cairns in a market note.
Weakening trend
But the local currency, which lost about a quarter of its value against the dollar last year, remains hostage to a weak domestic economic outlook and the threat of wage strikes which dented investor appetite in 2013.
"With event risk limited, volatility should fall away this week but we would not be surprised to see the rand's weakening trend slowly resume," said Cairns.
Government bonds edged slightly higher in early trade, pulling the yield on the benchmark issue due in 2026 1.5 basis points lower to 8.18%..
The shorter dated bond due in 2015 dipped half a basis point to 6.155%.
The local unit was trading at 10.6650 against the dollar by early Monday morning, just 0.14% softer than Friday's close in New York.
The rand has clawed back significant ground after slumping to 10.8330 on Thursday, its weakest since late 2008. The boost came from surprisingly soft US jobs data released on Friday.
"The weak US payrolls number has brought some much needed relief for the rand," said RMB currency analyst John Cairns in a market note.
Weakening trend
But the local currency, which lost about a quarter of its value against the dollar last year, remains hostage to a weak domestic economic outlook and the threat of wage strikes which dented investor appetite in 2013.
"With event risk limited, volatility should fall away this week but we would not be surprised to see the rand's weakening trend slowly resume," said Cairns.
Government bonds edged slightly higher in early trade, pulling the yield on the benchmark issue due in 2026 1.5 basis points lower to 8.18%..
The shorter dated bond due in 2015 dipped half a basis point to 6.155%.
