Rand gets boost on Greek deal hopes

Johannesburg - The rand inched close to a one-month high on Monday as hopes of a breakthrough in the Greek debt crisis supported emerging markets assets.

At 08:00 the rand advanced 0.28% to R12.1450/$, taking advantage of a defensive greenback to keep the R12.1380 landmark within striking distance.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made a new offer on a reforms package to foreign creditors on Sunday which may pull the country back from the brink of bankruptcy.

The dollar shed 0.25% against a basket of major currencies, opening the way for the rand to test resistance levels beyond 12.14.

"From a technical perspective the rand is in another corrective phase," said Warrick Butler, chief currency dealer at Standard Bank.

"If the rand manages to break below 12.1350 today then the chances are good for further corrective action to 12.05 and even 11.98," Warrick said in a morning market note.

The rand gained 3% against the dollar last week. Data risks to further progress this week are current account figures on Tuesday and producer inflation on Thursday.

Government bonds were little changed, with the benchmark issue due in 2026 unchanged at 8.39%.