Rand unchanged in early trade

The rand was little changed from levels seen late Monday in early trade, but the euro remained weak after it recently fell to fresh four year lows.

At 8.40am the rand was bid at R7.76 to the dollar, R9.29 to the euro and R11.26 to the pound.

With little local data to focus on, the rand will continue to follow the euro, said a local trader.

RMB analysts said in their morning report that Germany's austerity measures announced on Monday have offered little respite to the beleaguered single currency.

"Risk sentiment remains fragile and will continue to drive short-term moves in high-yielding assets, commodities prices and emerging market currencies, notably the ZAR which should linger below USD/ZAR8.00 today," RMB said.

Dow Jones Newswires reports the euro was higher against the dollar and the yen on short-covering following recent declines, but the underlying tone remained weak as investors worried the euro-zone sovereign-debt crisis would continue to worsen.