Johannesburg - The rand retreated slightly from Friday's
3-day highs as Greece's debt woes came back into focus on Monday, dampening the
slight uptick in risk appetite that had boosted the currency last week.
By 06:50 GMT the rand was at R6.8060 to the dollar, down 0.68% from Friday's close at R6.76.
"It's all on the euro, which has retraced a little bit
back down on Greek concerns, and equity markets are looking a little bit soft
as well," said Investec trader David Gracey.
"The only supporitve factor right now is precious
metals - that's helping the rand a little bit - but the moves are all around
concerns for Greece at the moment," he added.
Markets were looking to a report from the Reserve Bank on
Tuesday for the latest data on South Africa's current account position, but
that and other domestic news should take a back seat to international factors
in driving the rand, traders said.
Government bonds were little changed from Friday's close, with the yield on the benchmark 2015 bond R157 steady at 7.56% while that for the 2026 R186 edged up one basis point to 8.625%.