At 0650 GMT the rand was 0.08% weaker at 14.2075 per dollar, barely moved from a close of 14.1875 overnight as investors waited for congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for clues on the odds of a near-term easing of U.S. monetary policy.

Strong U.S. jobs data last week cooled market hopes for a large rate cut at the July 30-31 Fed meeting, but a small cut is still widely expected.

With no major data due locally the rand is set to remain in a tight range for most of the session, traders said.

Bonds were slightly weaker, with yield on the benchmark 2026 government issue up 2 basis points to 8.125%.