Rand little changed in early deals

The rand was little changed early on Monday, holding onto gains from last week as analysts said risk sentiment remained positive.

At 0742 GMT, the rand traded at R18.30 against the US dollar.

The dollar index was down about 0.23% against a basket of global currencies.

Global markets are expected to take direction this week from the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy decision on Tuesday and the US PCE price index inflation number on Friday.

“Risk sentiment remains positive, and we see EM (emerging market) currencies holding on to most of last week’s gains,” said currency strategist Andre Cilliers at TreasuryONE.

The rand is likely to consolidate in an R18.10 to R18.50 range in the short term as activity slows for the holiday season, Cilliers said.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was stronger in early deals, with the yield down 6 basis points at 9.710%.