The rand was a fraction off from its weekend close in midday trade on Monday, amid a slightly weaker gold price while exporters targeted 7.54 against the dollar.

At 11.35am the rand was bid at 7.4999 to the dollar from 7.4550 at its previous close. It was bid at 10.8820 to the euro from its previous close of 10.8785 and was at 12.3950 against sterling from 12.4181.

The euro was bid at US$1.4529 from US$1.4598 overnight.

A local trader said: "We saw exporters coming in this morning showing interest at 7.54 against the dollar. Gold is below 1,000 again and reports on the Bharti/MTN deal showing no conclusion is also contributing towards rand weakness.

"As I said, there is interest from exporters at 7.54, with 7.65 topside, and a low of 7.41 today, he said.

RMB analysts John Cairns and Nema Ramkhelawan in a morning report pointed to a cautious start to the week.

"The bias is nevertheless clearly for ZAR gains. As we saw Friday, any moves in gold to new highs will be reflected immediately in the ZAR. The bigger threat remains EUR/USD - after having finally broken 1.44, the market is now facing resistance at 1.46. With a string of US and EU data out through the week it's not hard to see a further break, the analysts said.

"We end the week, however, with a major risk. Governor Mboweni will talk on Thursday at the SARB's AGM and to parliament on Friday - both key forums to talk down the ZAR if he wishes," they concluded.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that fear that a trade war will erupt between China and the US boosted both the dollar and the yen in Europe Monday.

At one stage earlier in the day, the dollar got close to falling under Y90 for the first time since January.

The spat between China and the US began Friday when US President Barack Obama slapped a 35 percent import tax on tyres made in China on top of the existing four percent tariff.

China responded by accusing the U.S. of "rampant protectionism" and threatened action against imports of U.S. poultry and vehicles.

Concern over trade sanctions multiplying immediately led to a rise in risk aversion with investors heading back into the safe havens of the dollar and the yen.

Analysts said that not only did high-yielders such as the euro suffer but emerging market currencies in general could find themselves on the skids to the benefit of the dollar.

Bonds steady during morning session

Bonds remained steady during the morning session on Monday as any hopes by local investors of pushing the market weaker were foiled by another run below 7.50 to the dollar by the rand.

By 11.56am the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 7.270 percent from a previous close of 7.235 percent. The medium-term R157 was at 8.065 percent from 8.030 percent, while the long-term R186 was bid at 8.665 percent from 8.610 percent.

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