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Johannesburg - The rand hovered near its previous close against the dollar on Monday and could weaken during the week as investors worry about the impact of incessant labour unrest on the fragile economy.
The local unit barely moved on Reserve Bank data showing net gold and foreign exchange reserves edged up slightly to $44.828bn in June from $44.506bn in May.
By 08:43 the rand traded at R10.7715 to the dollar, only a fraction off Friday's close of R10.7700.
Government bonds were weaker at the start of trade, with yields rising 2.5 basis points to 8.42% for the paper due in 2026 and 6.765% for the 2015 note at the shorter end of the curve.
"The balance of risks favours a weaker rand over the coming days," said Barclays Africa in a note.
Market participants said mining and manufacturing output data due out on Thursday would offer the latest indicator on the impact of strikes that have plagued the economy since the start of the year, leading to a contraction in the first quarter.
Impala Platinum said on Monday workers were continuing a wildcat strike over wages at its Marula mine as a nationwide stoppage in the metals and engineering sectors by over 200 000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) which started last week shows no signs of ending.
Implats [JSE:IMP] and rivals Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] and Lonmin [JSE:LON], the world's biggest producers of the precious metal, are still reeling from a five-month strike in South Africa that ended in late June.
The local unit barely moved on Reserve Bank data showing net gold and foreign exchange reserves edged up slightly to $44.828bn in June from $44.506bn in May.
By 08:43 the rand traded at R10.7715 to the dollar, only a fraction off Friday's close of R10.7700.
Government bonds were weaker at the start of trade, with yields rising 2.5 basis points to 8.42% for the paper due in 2026 and 6.765% for the 2015 note at the shorter end of the curve.
"The balance of risks favours a weaker rand over the coming days," said Barclays Africa in a note.
Market participants said mining and manufacturing output data due out on Thursday would offer the latest indicator on the impact of strikes that have plagued the economy since the start of the year, leading to a contraction in the first quarter.
Impala Platinum said on Monday workers were continuing a wildcat strike over wages at its Marula mine as a nationwide stoppage in the metals and engineering sectors by over 200 000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) which started last week shows no signs of ending.
Implats [JSE:IMP] and rivals Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] and Lonmin [JSE:LON], the world's biggest producers of the precious metal, are still reeling from a five-month strike in South Africa that ended in late June.
