Johannesburg - The rand was on the back foot against the US dollar early on Tuesday, weakening within the previous day's range as investors treaded cautiously before the release of key GDP data.
Statistics South Africa will put out third-quarter economic growth numbers at 11:30 SA time, and will also rebase the reference year to 2010 and benchmark the data with new information.
The exercise will see a revision of GDP numbers from 2002.
Economists in a Reuters poll have forecast that economic growth picked up in the third quarter, to 1.5 percent quarter-on-quarter, from 0.6 percent in Q2.
The rand traded at 11.0435 to the dollar at 08:13 SA time, off a 11.0160 close in New York on Monday.
An upbeat GDP number should encourage the rand back to 10.90 levels tested in the last two sessions.
Dealers said they preferred buying dollar dips towards 10.85.
The benchmark 2026 bond came off 2014 highs hit on Friday, with the yield rising 4.5 basis points to 7.785 percent so far this session. - Reuters