The rand was on the front foot in order-driven trade shortly before midday on Tuesday. Dealers said the market was seeing some demand for the rand from UK banks.

By 11:50 the rand was bid at 7.6875 to the dollar from its previous close of 7.7650. It was bid at 12.2597 to the euro from a previous 12.3313 and at 15.2398 against sterling from 15.3537 before.

The euro was bid at $1.5947 from $1.5905 overnight, while gold was quoted at $920.58 a troy ounce from $915.85/oz overnight.

"Trade is very order driven at the moment. We're seeing a bit of buying of the rand by UK banks and the market is also fairly illiquid which has seen the local currency strengthen a bit," a local currency trader said.

He said the market was looking at a range of 7.65 to 7.78 for the rand for the day.

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

Near-term bonds pushed weaker; eye rand

Near-term bonds were pushed a little weaker during the morning on Tuesday, but a dealer feels they may come back on the rand during the afternoon.

By 11.28am the short-term government R153 bond was at 10.030 percent from 10.000 percent at its previous close, while the medium-term R157 was at 9.300 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