The rand came in for plenty of action overnight as foreigners picked up on the potential benefit of a big MTN-India play.

By 09.03am on Wednesday the rand was bid at 7.5420 to the dollar from a previous close of 7.5075. It was bid at 11.6853 to the euro from a previous 11.6356 and at 14.7979 against sterling from 14.7629 before.

The euro was bid at $1.5491 from $1.5530 overnight, while gold was quoted at $874.05 a troy ounce from $876.05/oz overnight.

ETM analysts said in their morning report that despite some robust importer demand in recent weeks, the USD-ZAR still managed to crack below support at 7.5000.

"Again it has been foreigners who have helped the local unit recover," they noted.

News that Bharti Airtel was looking to launch a massive bid for a controlling stake in mobile phone operator MTN was among the main catalysts for the rand strength, with the bid expected to be the largest on record for an SA company.

"That the bid would have been rejected by shareholders and analysts for being too low, simply means that if the deal were to go ahead, that the inflows may be even bigger than the $19.0bn quoted in the Financial Times yesterday," said the analysts.

Strong overnight rand fillip for bonds

Bonds gained three-basis-points in early trade on Wednesday after the rand rallied healthily overnight.

By 08.43am the short-term government R153 bond was at 10.265 percent from its previous close of 10.295 percent, while the medium-term R157 was at 9.405 percent from its previous close of 9.440 percent. The longer-term R186 bond was bid at 9.255 percent from its previous close of 9.260 percent.

I-Net Bridge