Rand weaker in early trade

The rand was a tad weaker on Tuesday morning on the back of a firmer dollar.

At 08.40am local time the rand was bid at R7.63 to the dollar, R9.57 to the euro and R11.40 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.2552 from $1.2586 overnight.

RMB analysts said in their morning report that trade remained lacklustre and directionless. "While ZAR trade remains lacklustre and directionless, we can still expect things to pick up as the week progresses given the coming rush of US corporate earnings and key international data. The performance of the two key international markets, US equities and EUR/USD, will be the intermediate driver of the ZAR," the analysts said.

"Locally, Finance Minister Gordhan's reiteration yesterday of the positive effects of having a flexible currency doesn't give any hint that the authorities are being persuaded to pursue a weak ZAR policy," RMB said.

A local trader pointed to a stronger dollar against the euro which, he said, was causing rand weakness.

Dow Jones Newswires noted the dollar and euro edged lower against the yen in Asia Tuesday as fragile regional share markets prompted non-Japanese short-term funds to pick up the safe-haven yen.