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Johannesburg - The rand eked out a slight gain in early trade on Friday after China quietly added liquidity to its market, but traders said the outlook remains weak for the local unit.
The rand was at R10.1900/$ at 08:57, 0.29% firmer from its New York close of R10.22.
Government bonds also recouped some of the losses suffered in the previous session, which saw yields on the shorter-dated 2015 paper booking their biggest daily increase in 10 years.
The yield on the benchmark 2026 issue fell 6.5 basis points to 8.210%.
China's central bank offered some comfort to stressed money markets, relieving Thursday's crushing liquidity squeeze with "window guidance" to major state banks to resume supplying funds, after indicative interbank rates reached highs above 25 percent on Thursday.
"The rand held up reasonably well after the Fed's announcement but the reality is it we saw an extensive downward move in the lead up to the announcement," William van Rijn, a trader at Nedbank.
"We expect a fairly sedate session today but the overall trend suggests we are most likely to see a gradual weakening of the rand."
The US central bank's plan to scale back its bond-buying programme is expected to keep the local currency under pressure while the prospect of strikes in key domestic industries such mining and manufacturing adds to bearish sentiment.
The rand was at R10.1900/$ at 08:57, 0.29% firmer from its New York close of R10.22.
Government bonds also recouped some of the losses suffered in the previous session, which saw yields on the shorter-dated 2015 paper booking their biggest daily increase in 10 years.
The yield on the benchmark 2026 issue fell 6.5 basis points to 8.210%.
China's central bank offered some comfort to stressed money markets, relieving Thursday's crushing liquidity squeeze with "window guidance" to major state banks to resume supplying funds, after indicative interbank rates reached highs above 25 percent on Thursday.
"The rand held up reasonably well after the Fed's announcement but the reality is it we saw an extensive downward move in the lead up to the announcement," William van Rijn, a trader at Nedbank.
"We expect a fairly sedate session today but the overall trend suggests we are most likely to see a gradual weakening of the rand."
The US central bank's plan to scale back its bond-buying programme is expected to keep the local currency under pressure while the prospect of strikes in key domestic industries such mining and manufacturing adds to bearish sentiment.
