South Africa's rand eased slightly from a 7-week high against the dollar on Wednesday but looked set to hold its ground due to strong appetite for domestic debt from investors becoming less concerned about the euro zone debt crisis.
The rand was 0.17 percent weaker at 8.0793 against the dollar at 08:42 SA time from last night's New York close of 8.0610.
With US markets closed for the Independence Day holiday, analysts said a recent rally by the rand towards the 8 versus the dollar level was likely to be the most helpful trading guide.
“With global markets still offering no direction this morning, the safest bet is probably to think that the trend will remain your friend,” Rand Merchant Bank said in a note.
Yields on benchmark bonds remained at record lows, with that on the three year bond slipping one basis point to 5.95 percent and that on the longer-dated 2026 paper dropping by the same margin to 7.855 percent.
On the local front, investors will look for more clues on the interest rate outlook when the Reserve Bank releases its annual report for 2011/12 at 10:00 SA time. - Reuters