JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand was largely flat against the dollar on Tuesday and should stay within a narrow range for the day given dearth of market-moving data and news to move it.
At 0648 GMT the local currency was trading at 10.6500 against the dollar, just 0.05 percent off of Monday's close in New York. It was 0.12 percent firmer at 14.4272 to the euro.
Government bonds firmed slightly and yields on the 2026 government bond and the 2015 paper edged 1.5 basis points lower to 8.27.
The rand fell to a five-year trough of 10.7360 to the greenback during Monday's session and could soon target such lows again amid lukewarm investor appetite for riskier currencies, which are seen as taking the brunt of a cut back in US monetary stimulus.
But a lack of substantial event risk should offer the rand a reprieve on Tuesday, analyst John Cairns of Rand Merchant Bank said in a note.
"Weak US data has helped the rand (and) there has been generalised profit-taking on long dollar positions against the emerging markets and the other core currencies," Cairns added.
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