The rand was firm but range bound against major currencies in quiet trade late on Monday as local markets settled back into business after a long weekend.

With UK markets being closed however owing to a bank holiday, trade was quiet on the local front.

By 3.55pm the rand was bid at 7.5700 to the dollar from a previous close of 7.5587. It was bid at 11.7372 to the euro from a previous 11.6679 and at 14.9215 against sterling from 14.9302 before.

The euro was bid at US$1.5480 from $1.5428 overnight, while gold was quoted at $869.98 a troy ounce from $856.20 overnight.

"The rand is very range bound at the moment. The London holiday has taken a lot of the liquidity out of the market," a local currency trader said.

Dow Jones Newswires meanwhile reports that the dollar remains on its back foot Monday as investors take a second look at Friday's US payrolls report and decide it wasn't so great after all. That's pushed the euro back up to where it was just before the payrolls data was released. A weak opening for US stocks is also hurting the greenback, especially against the yen.

Short end improves a tad, but mkt quiet

Bonds remained steady in quiet trade during the afternoon on Monday, but a feature of the day was some profit taking at the short end of the yield curve.

Investors have preferred a short bias due to the continuing inflation and interest rate concerns.

By 3.53pm the short-term government R153 bond was at 10.320 percent from its previous close of 10.340 percent, while the medium-term R157 was at 9.500 percent, unchanged from its previous close. The longer-term R186 bond was bid at 9.325 percent from its previous close of 9.330 percent.

I-Net Bridge