Johannesburg - The rand steadied against the dollar in early Friday trade, with dealers expecting higher commodity prices to support the currency in the lower end of a recent R9.05 - R9.15 range.
The rand was at R9.09 to the dollar at 06:44 GMT, slightly firmer, but not far off, its close in New York on Thursday.
"The rand continues to do very well in what is only a mildly encouraging environment. The trend is for gains but don't get carried away," said Rand Merchant Bank's John Cairns in a note to clients.
A recovery in the price of metals such as gold has propped up commodity-linked currencies including the rand.
Rand bulls have been encouraged by the dollar being unable to make a convincing break through R9.30.
Yields on government bonds were slightly weaker at 5.26%t on the 2015 note and 6.875% on the 2026 issue.
Strong inflows into the bond market have also provided a cushion for the rand in the past week.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan reiterated on Thursday that the inflows were unlikely to reverse because of the attractiveness of local yields.
However, the central bank separately warned bond inflows could be hit by inflationary pressures, a yawning current account deficit and a weaker rand exchange rate.
The Treasury is looking to sell R800m worth of inflation-linked debt at around 09:00 GMT. The 2025, 2038 and 2050 bonds are on offer.