Rand gives up gains, stays above R11/$

The rand was at R11.0495/$ at 08:16, down 0.4% from Wednesday's New York close.

The currency traded above R11.000/$ on Wednesday, reaching a session high of R10.9300, before weakening to close just shy of the psychologically key level.

Yields on the 2026 and 2015 government bonds each rose 2 basis points to 8.74% and 7.13% respectively.

The spotlight on Thursday will be on President 's State of the Nation address, his last before elections on May 7. The speech comes amid a backdrop of strikes in the platinum mining sector, protests in townships against poor government services and tensions between the ruling and the opposition .

"With foreign investors already concerned about strike action and socio-economic uncertainty in , the aggressive undertone that marked the engagement between the DA and ANC supporters in yesterday couldn't have inspired confidence in foreign investors," Rand Merchant Bank analysts wrote in a note.