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Johannesburg - The rand was softer against the dollar and government bonds also weakened as Johannesburg trade resumed on Tuesday after a long holiday weekend.
The market awaited quarterly employment numbers due out at 09:00 for the latest pointer on the health of the economy, beset by strikes in the mining sector which have dented investor sentiment.
The rand was down 0.53% at R10.0333 by 08:54 after closing in New York on Monday at R9.9770.
"With our local traders coming back to work, they are obviously also looking to buy some dollars so there is a bit of a demand at the moment," said Ion de Vleeschauwer, a forex trader at Bidvest Bank.
"The euro has also lost a lot of ground early this morning in the Far East."
Government bonds retreated ahead of an auction at 0900 GMT, which is likely to add R2.35bn of new paper to the market.
The yield on the 2026 issue climbed 10.5 basis points to 7.88% while the 2015 paper was up 8.5 basis points to 6.165%.
The Reserve Bank's quarterly bulletin out on Wednesday is expected show that the current account deficit widened to 7% of GDP in the first quarter from 6.5% in Q4 2012, and this will add pressure on the rand.
