The rand remained quiet in the afternoon session on Tuesday, awaiting Wall Street trade to provide any possible impetus.

At 3.30pm the rand was bid at 7.3242 to the dollar from 7.2984 at its previous close. It was bid at 10.9512 to the euro from its previous close of 10.9385 and was at 12.0685 against sterling from 11.9989.

The euro was bid at US$1.4970 from US$1.4965 overnight.

"Not much is happening with the rand at present, with no direction to speak of. It looks like we are in a period of consolidation. Wall Street looks like it might open firmer, which may have a slightly firmer bias on the rand," a local trader said.

Dow Jones Newswire reports that the euro was higher against the dollar in early New York trading on Tuesday, after touching an overnight high close to the psychologically important US$1.50 mark, as investors piled into risky trades buoyed by strong US corporate earnings and a tough statement on inflation from the Australian central bank.

The euro faltered slightly in the European session as mixed stock markets there lessened some investors' appetite for risk, but the common currency is expected to continue on its march toward US$1.50 in the US session, analysts said.

Investors are looking toward the 8.0am EDT release of the September US producer price index, which economists expect to tick down by 0.2 percent on the month, after August's 1.7 percent jump.

The dollar will come under pressure if the PPI comes in as expected comes in higher than expected, analysts at BNP Paribas said.

Strong US corporate earnings also continue to put pressure on the dollar, and earnings coming in on Tuesday should continue to surpass expectations, weighing on the greenback and supporting risk appetite, analysts said.

Bonds hover; all eyes on Tito

Bonds hovered aimlessly on Tuesday as investors took a breather on the sidelines ahead of a key rates decision on Thursday.

By 4.04pm the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 7.565 percent from a previous close of 7.530 percent. The medium-term R157 was at 8.585 percent from 8.565 percent, while the long-term R186 was at an unchanged 9.195 percent.