Rand unchanged in quiet trade

The rand was range bound in the morning session on Monday, with very little data out to provide direction.

At 9.02am the rand was bid at R7.39 to the dollar from R7.38 at its previous close. It was bid at R10.16 to the euro and R11.21 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.3753 from $1.3773 previously.

A local trader pointed to a tight range of R7.38-R7.46 for the local currency against the dollar amid very little economic data to fuel direction.

RMB analysts in their morning report noted that the global central bank's policy tightening comes to the fore this week as the Fed meets to discuss interest rates.

"A rate hike is unlikely before 4Q09 this year - and possibly much later - but the question is, how fast they are moving in this direction," said RMB analysts John Cairns and Nema Ramkhelawan. "In particular, the markets are looking to see whether they remove the words "for an extended period of time" with regards their current zero interest rate policy.”

Dow Jones Newswires reported that the euro fell against the yen and dollar in Asia on Monday as weaker regional share markets prompted Asian hedge funds and other short-term players to sell the risk-sensitive currency to take profits following its rise on Friday.

In Tokyo on Monday, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average was down 0.13% in early afternoon trade.