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Johannesburg - South African government bonds recouped some of the previous day's heavy losses while the rand steadied against the dollar on Friday, mainly supported by a stronger euro after the European Central bank ruled out cutting rates soon.
With no further economic data expected after foreign reserves numbers released at 08:00, traders said the market would be driven largely by US jobs numbers which could add pressure on the dollar if weaker than expected.
The rand was at R9.8970 to the greenback by 08:52, little changed from Thursday's close at R9.8750.
"It has recovered a little bit from recent lows because the dollar is a lot weaker after the ECB yesterday," said Bidvest Bank chief dealer Ion de Vleeschauwer.
"It looks like the European Central Bank is also looking to exit their bond purchases, probably a little more aggressively than the US Federal Reserve, and that's why the dollar has taken a smack globally."
Traders said data showing gold and foreign exchange reserves fell in May confirmed the central bank was not looking to intervene and influence the rand, which has been recently hammered by a dive in investor sentiment over mine labour unrest.
Government bond yields fell in early trade, as the debt market reversed the previous day's losses triggered by Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus saying there was little scope to cut interest rates.
The 2026 paper at the longer end of the curve was yielding 4 basis points lower at 7.775% and the bond due in 2015 fell 10 basis points to 6.02%.
