Rand stable against dollar

Johannesburg - The rand was steady against the dollar early on Monday, with investors nervous about backing the commodity-heavy currency giving concerns over a slowing global economy.

Dealers expected the rand to test the weaker end of its recent range.

"The euro, which we tend to have the link with is in ranges and that does put us in a range at R7.10 to R7.25 for now," said Jim Bryson, a trader at Rand Merchant Bank.

"But with the uncertainty, the danger is still the rand tries to break higher at some stage through R7.25."

The rand was steady at R7.2050 to the dollar at 06:34 GMT, off Friday's close of R7.1956 in New York.

Investors fear the global economy could fall into recession this year after a spate of weak data out of the world's biggest economies.

The local market also faces a bleak week with the central bank's leading indicator due for release on Tuesday expected to have moderated further to four months of decline in June.

July inflation data due on Wednesday is seen quickening as prices rise not on domestic demand but on rising food and electricity prices.

Producer price inflation, also expected to quicken, is due out on Thursday.

Government bonds continued last week's rally, driven by foreign demand and expectations that the central bank would not hike interest rates this year. Prices on forward rate agreements suggest it may even cut rates.

The yield on the four year bond was down seven basis points to a record 6.56% while the 2026 bond gave up 6 basis points to 7.805%.

On the bourse, the JSE Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] blue-chip index was down 0.06% before the start of stock trading at 07:00 GMT.

South African municipal workers enter their second week of strikes on Monday as they struggle to reach agreement with local government in an annual work stoppage driven by wage disputes.