The rand gained momentum in late afternoon trade on Thursday supported by commodity prices, with a trader noting that technically there was potential to strengthen further.

At 3.45pm the rand was bid at 7.5653 to the dollar from 7.6090 at its previous close. It was bid at 11.2835 to the euro from its previous close of 11.3235 and was at 12.5685 against sterling from 12.6050.

The euro was bid at US$1.4914 from US$1.4876 overnight.

"We have picked up a bit. The rand is incredibly strong even against the euro and pound," the trader said.

"We need to get below this 7.55 level. If we get below that we can go to 7.45. The euro has bounced a little bit against the dollar. It's not just a weaker dollar, but it's also rand strength.

"Commodity prices are supporting. It's a little bit of a mystery as to why we are the levels we are at - possibly the rand gave too much up. But technically, we can go to about 7.40-7.45," he said.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that the dollar is marginally higher against the euro and down slightly versus the yen early on Thursday, with the currency market so far registering only limited response to Thursday's policy decisions by the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.

The UK pound has had the most pronounced movement so far on Thursday, strengthening in the wake of the Bank of England's decision to provide more support to the UK economy amid some mixed recent signals about the progress of economic recovery.

The central bank's Monetary Policy Committee decided to invest in even more insurance against a prolonged slump, expanding its bond buying programme by another #25-billion.

In response, the pound initially moved higher on relief that the extension wasn't even larger, reaching an intraday high at US$1.6636 before parings its gains somewhat.

The BOE as expected left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5 percent, as did the European Central Bank with its decision to hold its key rate at 1.0 percent.

Currency players are now focused on a follow-up press conference from ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet as well as Friday's US October non-farm payrolls report, amid a still skittish environment that is inhibiting traders from moving too aggressively into higher-yielding currencies and riskier assets, despite the initial negative moves against the dollar following Wednesday's dovish Federal Reserve policy decision.

Bonds edge slightly weaker; eye rand

Bonds edged slightly weaker during the afternoon session on Thursday as supply concerns continue to linger. However, the stronger rand has also been a key factor, providing an underpin.

By 4.31pm the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 7.085 percent from a previous close of 7.045 percent. The medium-term R157 was at 8.360 percent from 8.355 percent, while the long-term R186 was bid at 8.965 percent from 8.955 percent.