The rand continued to hold firm at midday on Wednesday, tracking a record gold price, with the euro also stronger against the greenback. Eyes will be on a raft of US data out later in the day.

At 11.55am the rand was bid at 7.3809 to the dollar from 7.4446 at its previous close. It was bid at 11.1170 to the euro from its previous close of 11.1326 and was at 12.3365 against sterling from 12.3492.

The euro was bid at $1.5034 from $1.4963 overnight.

Gold last quoted at $11177.78 an ounce.

A local trader said: "We are seeing interest below 7.40 against the dollar, and if it breaks 7.38 we could see last week's levels of 7.35, and then 7.33. The euro is strong, as is gold, pushing rand strength."

RMB analysts John Cairns and Nema Ramkhelawan said earlier in a morning report: "The big risks today are centred at 15:30. Because of the US holiday tomorrow, Thursday's data are squeezed in with the usual Wednesday data, implying four key numbers come out at the same time. Any effect on US dollar/rand would most likely come via euro/US dollar and the all-important 1.5000.

"From a technical perspective, US dollar/rand remains range bound. Moves above 7.6200 would signal that downside pressures are reducing. The longer-term signals are at important levels, trading below 200-week moving averages, suggesting the 7.000 target still exists," Cairns and Ramkhelawan said.

Dow Jones Newswires said that by 09:10 GMT, the euro had firmed to $1.5011 from $1.4969 in late New York business on Tuesday.

Investors were focused on the US data due later in the day. A Dow Jones Newswires poll of economists suggested that October's durable goods orders data, due at 13:30 GMT, would show a rise of 0.5 percent from 1.4 percent previously, while the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer confidence index for November, expected at 14:55 GMT, was expected to fall to 66.8 from 70.6 the previous month.

Meanwhile, spot gold touched a fresh record high at $1180.10 per troy ounce and, at 09:10 GMT, was trading at $1176.35, up $6.05 from the New York close.

"In the run-up to Thanksgiving it would appear the desire to lock in profit is still not greater than that to accumulate new long positions," said Barclays Capital in a research note.

Bonds edge up on CPI

Bonds gained a few clips on the improvement in South Africa's CPI number to within the target range, but the rally was short-lived as some selling took place into the strength.

By 11.55am, the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 7.285 percent from a previous close of 7.275 percent. The medium-term R157 was at 8.360 percent from 8.415 percent at its previous close, while the long-term R186 was bid at 9.075 percent from 9.095 percent before.