Rand steady but market wary ahead of data

The rand steadied against the dollar early on Tuesday as Greece's truce with its creditors provided broad market relief but traders remained wary ahead of a slew of local and global economic data.


At 08:25 the rand was trading at R12.4565/$, not far off its New York closing level of R12.4450 on Monday.


"The rand remains range-bound and looks likely to stay that way until at least late tomorrow. Data risks come into play today and more so tomorrow," John Cairns of Rand Merchant Bank said in a note.


On Tuesday, some focus will shift to US retail sales data due later in the session, which would give investors a chance to see if fundamentals are backing Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's views on a possible rate hike at some point this year.

Also awaited is congressional testimony by Yellen on Wednesday and whether she drops further hints regarding the timing of a rate hike.

On the local front, investors would focus on retails sales data due out on Wednesday.

In fixed income, the yield on debt maturing in 2026 was up 1 basis point to 8.22%.