The rand gained strength in the midday session on Friday, tracking a weaker dollar. Markets will wait on US consumer data out later.

At 11:31 the rand was bid at 7.4351 to the dollar from 7.4564 at its previous close. It was bid at 11.0831 to the euro from its previous close of 11.0703 and was at 12.4046 against sterling from 12.3720.

The euro was bid at $1.4894 from $1.4845 overnight.

A local trader said: "The rand has been pretty quiet this morning, in a range of 7.42-45 (against the dollar). We had anticipated a testing of 7.50, but dollar weakness has seen the rand gain some strength. We will wait to track US consumer data expected out later."

Earlier, Dow Jones Newswires reported that the dollar weakened slightly against the yen and euro in Asia on Friday as Asian market participants sold the US unit to lock in profits following its overnight rise.

But dealers said the greenback could bounce back later in the day as US hedge funds may buy dollars to prepare for investors' dollar-redemption requests that are expected to increase due to the terms of their business contracts.

The greenback also weakened against the euro, which traded up at $1.4863 compared with $1.4841. After the euro fell to a one-week low at $1.4821 overnight, market participants bought back the common currency to take profits, dealers said.

If the Reuters/University Of Michigan consumer sentiment index due at 14:55 GMT beats expectations for a rise to 72, that could cause US equities to rally, putting upward pressure on US interest rates to the benefit of the dollar, said Yuji Saito, head of the foreign exchange group at Societe Generale.

Bonds retraced their paths and moved weaker during the morning session on Friday after running "too far, too fast", as one dealer explained it.

By 11.48am, the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 7.215 percent from a previous close of 7.045 percent. The medium-term R157 was at 8.460 percent from 8.365 percent, while the long-term R186 was at 9.055 percent from 8.970 percent before.