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Rand softens, bonds rise

Johannesburg - The rand softened marginally against the dollar in early trade on Thursday but is expected to remain in a tight range as local traders await the resolution of talks to resolve the so-called "fiscal cliff" in the United States.

The rand, which has failed to break out of an R8.80-R9.00 range during the last week, was trading at R8.8210 to the greenback at 06:46 GMT.

The euro firmed as the United States Congress pushed toward compromise on a deal to resolve the fiscal cliff, but agreement still appeared elusive, keeping emerging market investors on edge.

"The currency market at the moment is relatively lacklustre, said Brigid Taylor, head of institutional sales at Nedbank. "The US is now in the spotlight and we could potentially see deterioration."

Government bonds recovered from yesterday's losses with yields falling 2.5 basis points on the benchmark 2026 paper and 4 basis points to 5.47% on the 2015 note.

Bonds weakened and yields edged higher during the previous session when Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus, addressing a conference of South Africa's metal-workers union, reiterated a hawkish tone on inflation, denting hopes for interest rate cuts.

 
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Rand - Dollar
18.92
-0.1%
Rand - Pound
23.90
-0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.44
+0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.35
+0.0%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.1%
Platinum
909.30
+1.4%
Palladium
1,015.00
+1.3%
Gold
2,220.40
+1.2%
Silver
24.86
+0.9%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.9%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.9%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
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