The rand was steady in early trade on Monday but it remains to be seen whether the unit can regain the momentum it had last week when it posted strong gains.

At 8.33am the rand was bid at 7.7144 to the dollar from its overnight close of 7.7450. It was bid at 11.0237 to the euro from a previous 11.0266 and at 12.7460 against sterling from 12.7147.

The euro was bid at $1.4258 from $1.4227 overnight.

RMB analyst John Cairns said in his morning report that last week saw the best rand gains in months, but by Friday the momentum had been lost.

"Whether this can be picked up again will probably be data dependant in what looks likely to be a busy week. The key remains global risk appetite with US new home sales, consumer confidence, durable goods orders and GDP all due," Cairns said.

On the local front the proposed Bharti-MTN deal will take centre stage. The companies have set themselves Thursday as a deadline to agree a deal.

"The exact size of any resulting inflows likewise will be dependent on the specifics. USD/ZAR is drifting around 7.73 this morning without direction. 7.63/65 needs to be broken to get the ZAR rally going again but no signs of this just yet," he said.

This week will also provide some detail on the interest rate outlook, while the strikes meanwhile set a negative backdrop.

The new consumer inflation index, due for release on Wednesday - the measure used by the South African Reserve Bank for its inflation target - is expected to have receded to 7.2 percent year-on-year in June from the elevated 8.0 percent increase in May, according to a survey of leading economists by I-Net Bridge.

Forecasts among the 10 economists surveyed ranged from 6.9% to 7.3%.

I-Net Bridge

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