The rand remained range bound at midday on Tuesday, with no real news to give the market direction.

By noon the rand was bid at 7.6200 to the dollar from a previous close of 7.5810. It was bid at 11.8030 to the euro from a previous 11.7915, and at 14.8557 against sterling from 14.8446 before.

The euro was bid at US$1.5460 from US$1.5540 overnight, while gold was quoted at $876.65 a troy ounce from $882.00 overnight.

"The rand has moved to the upper end of its range after touching 7.58 earlier, but there are no real drivers. There are plenty of rumours about the MTN deal, but what we need now is hard facts. The guys are also waiting for the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Review later," said a local currency trader.

"The Reserve Bank may give us something to get our teeth into," he said.

The SARB is due to release the MPR at 5.30pm local time.

RMB analysts said in their morning report that a rally in US equities plus further speculation over an MTN acquisition has kept the rand nicely bid.

Last week the rand topped out at 7.74, and this morning it was hovering just below 7.60. "7.57/58 now offers support and, while momentum has been lost, if we move through this we could see the low 7.50s. Multi-day 7.48 — 7.74 is the range," RMB said.

Dow Jones Newswires reports the USD is mixed as the market awaits the latest US retail sales data for further evidence of economic slowdown. Sentiment towards the US currency was being helped by a recovery in equities, with a small upturn in risk appetite.

Bonds tentative ahead of MPR

Bonds halted their forward advance during the morning session on Tuesday as investors preferred the sidelines ahead of the key central bank data release later in the day.

By 12.03pm the short-term government R153 bond was at 10.360 percent from its previous close of 10.370 percent, while the medium-term R157 was at 9.415 percent from its previous close of 9.460 percent. The longer-term R186 bond was bid at 9.270 percent from its previous close of 9.280 percent.

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