Johannesburg - The rand was steady against the dollar in early Monday morning trade, but was weaker than the R8.80 resistance level it broke last week.
The rand was at R8.85/$ at 08:48, off a R8.8470 close in New York trade on Friday. The currency hit a month-high of R8.77 on Friday.
"Friday's bounce from levels below R8.80 was a little surprising, but does not change the short-term technical possibility that dollar/rand re-tests levels closer to R8.70 in the next week or two before finding a base," said George Glynos, emerging markets analyst at ETM Analytics.
"The bias for now remains to the downside and selling dollar up-ticks in the very near term is favoured unless repeated failures to sustain a break below R8.80 emerge," Glynos added.
Monday's session is expected to be quiet with the US market closed for a national holiday, which could mean the rand will be lethargic until local inflation data is released on Wednesday.
The inflation number will be the first release based on new weights announced by Statistics South Africa at the start of February. The data is from a survey of households' income and expenditure in 2010-2011 and reflects increases in spending on petrol and electricity.
Government bonds were slightly weaker with the rand.
The yield on the 2026 government bond was at 7.30%. Charts show the bond is struggling to break through 7.295%, a resistance level that has held four times since the start of the month.