JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand was slightly stronger from overnight closing levels against the dollar on Tuesday, in a market driven by greenback weakness linked to a US government closure.
By 0651 GMT the rand traded at 9.9950 per dollar, 0.1 percent firmer than Monday's close in New York.
But government bonds were slightly weaker, and yields, which move inversely to the price, edged higher.
The 2026 benchmark bond added 4.5 basis points to 8.08 percent while the bond due in 2015 was up two basis points to 6.115 percent.
Yields have however come back significantly since hitting 16 month highs in late August as investors dumped emerging market assets in anticipation that the US Federal Reserve would soon start tapering its monetary stimulus.
The programme has been a major source of portfolio flows into emerging markets.
Signs that the Fed would delay the scaling down of the $85 billion a month asset purchases, coupled with the current budget impasse in the world's largest economy, have supported high-yielding emerging market assets.
"One reason for the rand's resilience remains the strong portfolio inflows," said Rand Merchant Bank currency analyst John Cairns, noting that foreign investors had picked up 2.5 billion rand in local bonds and equities since the US government shut down started about a week ago.
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