Rand retreats, fails to break technical barrier

Johannesburg - The rand reversed recent gains against the dollar early on Friday after failing to break technical barriers beyond a 2-week high.

At 11:21 the unit was trading R11.80/$, backtracking after an overnight high of R11.7820 in New York fuelled by poor economic data from the US.

"From a technical stand point the rand got pretty close to its medium term support level," said Maemo Rametse, a trader at Standard Bank in a note. "A break of 11.75-71 should see the rand gather momentum."

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to near a 15-year low while producer prices were much weaker than anticipated.

The rand has gained close to 3% against the dollar this month, according to Thomson Reuters data, as recent weak economic data from US signalled the Federal Reserve may not raise rates

Local bonds continued to firm as local and offshore appetite for domestic debt returned, with the government issue due in 2026 shedding 5.5 basis points to 7.98%, its lowest in 2 weeks.