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Johannesburg - The rand was trading in a narrow range on Thursday amid caution ahead of policy meetings at the European Central Bank and Bank of England.
The rand was at R9.2500/$ at 07:58, 0.2% weaker than its close in New York on Wednesday. It has traded within the R9.18 to R9.25 band since the start of the week.
The European Central Bank and the Bank of England will announce their interest rate decisions later on Thursday, with both expected to keep rates on hold.
The European Union is South Africa's biggest block trading partner and the rand often follows movements of the euro.
The rand was unlikely to move significantly ahead of the meetings and the release of U.S. non-farm payrolls data on Friday, analysts said.
"Looking at the trading session ahead, it is likely that the (dollar-rand) pair continues to trade in fairly range bound fashion as the outcomes of the European central banks are awaited," Tradition Analytics wrote in a note.
"Thereafter, the potential exists for the rand to extend its recovery although the momentum as reflected in the daily and the weekly charts are considered relatively weak."
Government bond yields edged lower, falling one basis point on the 2026 paper to 7.35% and 1.5 basis points on the 2015 instrument to 5.465%.
