JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand was largely unchanged against the dollar on Friday as a brief rally on hopes of a delayed US interest rate hike fizzled out and investors awaited the latest on Greece's debt crisis.
At 0702 GMT the rand was trading 0.03 percent stronger at 12.2390 to the dollar compared with its New York closing level on Thursday.
The rand gained 0.6 percent on Thursday as signals that the US Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates as soon as expected boosted emerging market assets.
"The longer that US Fed delays start to monetary policy normalisation, the better it is for local unit given persistent concerns about how well international portfolio inflows will hold up once US interest rates start to rise," said NKC African Economics in a note.
With no local data due, Greece will likely be where the focus lies as Euro zone leaders plan an emergency summit on Monday to try to avert a Greek default.
"It is quiet today from data perspective and South Africa currency will likely be driven by broader emerging market sentiment and developments surrounding Greece's financial deadlock," added NKC African Economics in the note.
South African government bonds were slightly weaker in early Thursday trade, and the yield for the benchmark instrument due in 2026 ZAR186= edged up 1 basis points to 8.385 percent.
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