Johannesburg - The rand was steady against the dollar early on Friday, lacking direction and likely to end the week within its range of the last two weeks, while government bonds remained supported.
The rand has been broadly stuck in the R8.80 to R9.00 for two weeks, meeting strong support at the R9.0 rand level that it tested but left unbroken all of February.
The local unit managed a brief rally through R8.80 resistance at the end of last week, but the move lacked momentum and rand bulls retreated to R8.90 and above since then.
By 08:47, the rand was at R8.8840/$, slightly firmer but not far off its close in New York on Thursday.
Strong bond-buying by offshore accounts is also providing some support to the currency.
Yields were down to 5.285% on the 2015 note and 7.23% on the 2026 issue.
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