Johannesburg - The rand softened against the dollar on Thursday, with scope for further losses after hawkish comments from the US Federal Reserve boosted the greenback across the board.
The rand initially weakened to R8.9289/$ and was at R8.92 by 08:39 compared with Wednesday's close of R8.9135.
Government bonds also eased, with yields, which move inversely to the price, slightly higher on the day.
The 2026 market benchmark added four basis points to 7.245% while the yield for the shorter-dated paper due in 2015 was up 2.5 basis points at 5.325%.
The rand's relative strength against other currency pairs overnight suggested the South African currency was falling victim to broad-based dollar strength rather than domestic factors, said Absa Capital.
"It appears as if the rand remains well entrenched within an R8.80 to R8.95/$ range in the very near term and an R8.70 to R9.20 range over the medium term," the bank said in a note.
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