JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand got off to lacklustre start against the dollar on Monday, with traders expecting range bound trading for most of the day in the absence of market-moving data.
Government bonds opened stronger, with the yield on the 2026 bond shedding 3 basis points to 8.095 percent and the 2015 paper retreating 2 basis points to 6.595 percent.
By 0637 GMT the rand traded at 10.3600 to the greenback, barely changed from Friday's close at 10.3540.
"No news headlines this weekend of note to give this market a bit of a jump start and no macro data today worth noting should ensure last week's lethargy continues into today," Standard Bank trader Warrick Butler said.
The rand has reversed sharp losses against the dollar at the start of the year, buoyed by renewed offshore demand for local assets.
South Africa has seen nearly 60 billion rand ($5.80 billion)worth of bond and equity portfolio inflows since February, a record for any four-month period, Rand Merchant Bank analyst John Cairns noted.
"And as long as this continues, the rand will keep strengthening," Cairns added, warning however that weak exports posed a risk for the currency.
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