A quiet and fractionally weaker rand traded in a narrow range by noon on Monday, tracking the US dollar amid very little economic data.

At 12.00am the rand was bid at 7.4876 to the dollar from 7.4650 at its previous close. It was bid at 11.2449 to the euro from its previous close of 11.1902 and was at 12.2255 against sterling from 12.1615.

The euro was bid at $1.5036 from $1.5002 overnight.

A local trader said: "There is very little happening at the moment, with the rand in a tight range of 7.45 to 7.50 tracking the dollar."

RMB analysts John Cairns and Nema Ramkhelawan said in a morning report: "US dollar/rand should remain rather subdued given today's data drought.

"The unit should remain range-bound, after weakening slightly amid profit- taking and limp US equities late last week, though volatility is likely to increase as local and international event risk becomes more prevalent in the coming days," the analyst said.

"Despite an array of anticipated US data releases, 3Q09 GDP will be of particular interest. A healthy number could offer the US dollar some respite as markets might perceive the data as motivation for monetary policy officials to increase US interest rates sooner than expected," RMB said.

"A dive in US equities, however, might curb any enthusiasm derived from the positive data. After soaring to 10 000 the Dow is struggling to maintain its upward trend as the effect of corporate earnings season peters out and investors search for more definitive signs of the strength of the economic recovery. This might pose some measure of upside risk to the rand over the next few days," Cairns and Ramkhelawan concluded.

Bonds remain limp

Bonds remained on the back foot in quiet noon trade on Monday as local markets await the Medium Term Budget (MTBPS) which will be presented in Parliament on Tuesday.

By 11.40am, the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 7.475 percent from a previous close of 7.360 percent. The medium-term R157 was at 8.655 percent from 8.610 percent, while the long-term R186 was bid at 9.260 percent from 9.200 percent.