A firmer rand continued to strengthen by noon on Monday tracking a weaker dollar, amid record gold prices and stronger equities.

At 11.40am the rand was bid at 7.4952 to the dollar from 7.5052 at its previous close. It was bid at 11.1507 to the euro from its previous close of 11.1693 and was at 12.5238 against sterling from 12.5018.

The euro was bid at $1.4969 from $1.4873 overnight.

A local trader said: "Gold is rallying, equities both locally and internationally have rallied, and the dollar is on the back foot. This has all contributed to a stronger rand."

Earlier, the Dow Jones Newswire said that the euro rose against the dollar and yen in Asia Monday as stronger regional share markets prompted Asian hedge funds and other short-term players to buy the riskier common currency.

Any further gains in global equities later in the day may keep the currency poised to move upward, dealers said.

"The dollar is likely to remain weak against currencies like the euro," as players betting on further global economic recovery continue to channel assets into more attractive, higher-yielding investments, said Hiroshi Maeba, executive director of foreign exchange trading at Nomura Securities.

South African longer-term bonds saw most of the mild selling activity during the morning session on Monday as investors made space ahead of the government auction.

By 11.59am, the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 7.050 percent from a previous close of 6.965 percent. The medium-term R157 was bid at 8.315 percent from 8.280 percent, while the long-term R186 was at 8.930 percent from 8.890 percent before.