Johannesburg - The rand held steady against the dollar in
early trade on Tuesday and dealers were expecting a stalemate between bulls and
bears for the rest of the week, while government bonds took a break from a
sharp rally in the previous session.
The rand, which has tracked turmoil in global markets, is
seen settling slightly this week as knee-jerk reactions subside and dealers
wait for more clues on the global growth picture.
By 06:17 GMT the rand was at R7.1945, mostly steady against
the dollar and off a close of R7.2025 in New York.
Bonds gave up some gains and yields pushed higher as
investors booked profit after a recent sharp rally that saw yields plummet to
new lows until Monday.
An auction that closes at 09:00 GMT is seen as weighing on the
market as traders brace for the extra supply.
The Treasury has offered R2.1bn in 15-year bonds and 25-year
paper with results out after the auction closes.
"The bond market has weakened on the open in
anticipation of this morning's auction, as well as profit taking from offshore
names and some selling of bonds from real money accounts," said Daniel
Sabiston, a bond trader at Absa Capital.
The 2015 benchmark note yield has pulled back from a record
low of 6.46% on Monday to add five basis points to 6.61% in Tuesday's session.
The yield on the 2026 paper added seven basis points to 8.015% by 06:25 GMT.
The central bank's leading indicator will be released at
07:00 GMT and the market expects to see a further moderation with the June
number, as economic signals point to weak domestic growth.
The JSE Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] blue-chip index was
up nearly 1% before the start of stock trading at 07:00 GMT after stocks
managed to end higher on Monday on bargain-hunting.