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Johannesburg – The rand eased slightly against the dollar on Tuesday with investors looking ahead to domestic economic indicators and geopolitical developments abroad in search of direction.
The rand slipped 0.09% to R10.6350 by 17:13 after touching a 13-day high of R10.6130 earlier in the session.
Statistics South Africa announces retail sales data for June on Wednesday, with mining data for the same period out on Thursday. A Reuters poll predicts a 0.4% decline in year-on-year retail sales.
Market watchers expect both numbers to come in softer as the effects of persistent strikes in the first quarter of 2014 continue to be felt.
Overseas, reports on Tuesday of a Russian convoy carrying aid heading into Ukraine fuelled market fears that Moscow was stepping up its military operations there.
"The rand is outperforming quite a few of its peers, which has been a tendency whenever risk conditions start to stabilise," said Sean McClagan, a market analyst for ETM Analytics.
"As we approach some of the data in the remainder of the week we will begin to see a clearer picture of how sentiment will impact on the rand."
In fixed income yields on government bonds were mixed.
The yield on the benchmark 2015 paper shed 2.5 basis points to 6.69%, while the 2026 paper weakened by a single basis point to 8.33%.
