The was slightly softer in the morning session on Tuesday tracking the euro, which failed to breach 1.5000 against the dollar. A local trader noted the local currency's stability on the crosses.

At 8.50am the rand was bid at 7.5230 to the dollar from 7.4980 at its previous close. It was bid at 11.2178 to the euro from its previous close of 11.2029 and was at 12.4490 against sterling from 12.4473.

The euro was bid at $1.4931 from $1.4959 overnight.

A local trader said: "We are tracking the euro which failed to break the 1.5000 against the dollar. We are quite stable on the crosses, though. GDP figures are out later, so we will keep an eye on that, but for now we will follow the euro."

RMB analysts John Cairns and Nema Ramkhelawan in a morning report noted that the unusual uncertainty over today's GDP growth figure implied greater than usual risk for the rand. "While the figure will certainly introduce some volatility, we can't see it changing the multi-week outlook in any way. And here we need to ask if investors are giving up the ghost on risky currencies?

"Despite the Dow hitting new 13-month highs overnight, commodity prices pushing upwards with gold making new records, and even euro/US dollar again testing 1.5000, risky currencies remain well off their best. Quite possibly fatigue is setting in after weeks of failed attempts to break new ground," the analysts said.

"I wouldn't say as yet that this implies the trend on US dollar/rand has turned. Indeed, if our above consensus 2.0% expectation on GDP growth proves correct, we could be in for some downside today. More to the point, if euro/US dollar ever does decisively break 1.5000 then the bias lower will resume," Cairns and Ramkhelawan said.

RMB pointed to a string of US data concentrated between 15:30 and 17:00.

"Finally, Brazil has said that it does not rule out more steps to halt currency gains while Chinese officials have warned that capital controls may need to be tightened to stop speculative inflows.

"These actions have a feed through into the rand given for instance the strong correlation between the Brazilian real and the rand", Cairns and Ramkhelawan said.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that the euro fell against the yen and dollar in Asia on Tuesday as anaemic Asian share markets encouraged short-term players to sell the risk-sensitive common currency.

The euro may retreat further later in the global day if European equities are similarly sluggish, dealers said. A weaker-than-expected result in the German Ifo business survey may also weigh on the unit, they said.

In early afternoon trade in Tokyo, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average was down 0.9 percent, while share prices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea were also lower.

A fall in the price of gold further encouraged short-term players to trim euro holdings, dealers said. The common currency has recently tracked movements in gold prices, and gained overnight as gold hit a fresh record high. But by midday in Tokyo, the precious metal was down 60 cents from its New York close.

Bonds on back foot

Bonds were on the back foot in early trade on Tuesday in what a trader said was a cheapening of the market into auction.

By 9.11am, the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 7.340 percent from a previous close of 7.230 percent. The medium-term R157 was at 8.420 percent from 8.370 percent at its previous close, while the long-term R186 was bid at 9.115 percent from 9.050 percent before.