JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand was slightly weaker against a high-flying US dollar on Tuesday as slow year-end trade kept the local unit in a tight range and traders awaited US economic growth numbers.
The US dollar has been surging against most major currencies in recent months as the world's biggest economy shows lasting signs of recovery.
Third quarter gross domestic product data due later in the session is expected to show US growth at above a 4 percent annualised rate for a second straight quarter.
By 0616 GMT the rand had slipped 0.15 percent to 11.5875 per dollar, slightly weaker compared to an overnight close of 11.5700 in New York.
The rand has shed close to 5 percent in December and over 25 percent in the last 12 months against the greenback, as a record 5-month labour stoppage in the platinum sector dragged Africa's most developed economy into recession in the first quarter.
Growing budget and current account deficits have kept the local currency on the backfoot in the second and third quarters.
Yields on local bonds were unmoved in early trade, with benchmark government issue flat at 8.01 percent. Statistics from the Johannesburg Securities Exchange on Monday showed that offshore investors sold-off more than 2.5 billion rand in South African bonds in the previous week.
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