The rand was steady in early trade on Tuesday and was seen confined to a range of 7.73 to 7.80 per dollar for now.

By 09.00am the rand was bid at 7.7553 to the dollar from its previous close of 7.7650. It was bid at 12.3117 to the euro from a previous 12.3313 and at 15.3501 against sterling from 15.3537 before.

The euro was bid at $1.5842 from $1.5905 overnight, while gold was quoted at $914.35 a troy ounce from $915.85/oz overnight.

RMB analysts said in their morning report that hopes for a move stronger in the rand have been diminished by poor results from Bank of America and a subsequent reduction in positive global sentiment.

Looking ahead to later today, markets will be watching US housing data.

Little volatility expected ahead of CPI

Bonds were steady in early trade on Tuesday as conditions remained thin ahead of the key inflation release on Wednesday.

By 08.58am the short-term government R153 bond was at 10.000 percent from 10.000 percent at its previous close, while the medium-term R157 was at 9.285 percent from 9.270 percent at its previous close. The longer-term R186 bond was bid at 9.120 percent from its previous close of 9.100 percent.

I-Net Bridge