The rand softened by midday on Monday amid demand for dollars from local banks.

At 11:32 the rand was bid at 7.3307 to the dollar from 7.3040 at its previous close. It was bid at 10.6570 to the euro from its previous close of 10.5724 and was at 11.8140 against sterling from 11.7492.

The euro was bid at $1.4515 from $1.4462 overnight.

A local trader said: "We have seen demand from local banks, buying dollars. A figure of 7.29 against the greenback is crucial and we saw strong support at that level following non-farms on Friday."

Dow Jones Newswires said that in the currency market, the dollar was under pressure after Friday's softer-than-expected US jobs data. At 09:10 GMT, the euro was trading at $1.4521, up from $1.4400 in New York late Friday.

ING foreign exchange strategist Tim Condon said the latest comments on interest rate policy from the US Federal Reserve's James Bullard may be pushing the euro above $1.4500.

Condon said the euro's reaction to Friday's nonfarm payrolls report had looked subdued, but the single unit has lately spiked as Bullard appeared to shrug off inflationary concerns and reiterated that rates may remain low "for quite some time."

Bullard also called the markets' focus on interest rates "disappointing," adding that "markets should be focusing on quantitative monetary policy rather than interest rate policy."

Bonds little changed in thin trade

It was a slow start to the week on the South African bond market, with only the R157 bond having traded as players find their way back to their desks after the December holiday.

With little in the way of local data this week, conditions are likely to remain fairly subdued, although tomorrow sees the first of the government weekly bond auctions.

By noon the short-term government R154 bond was untraded, bid at 7.450 percent and offered at 7.400 percent after closing at 7.425 percent on Friday and the medium-term R157 was yielding 8.590 percent from its previous close of 8.550. The long-term R186 was also untraded, bid at 9.290 percent and offered at 9.265 percent from 9.255 percent before.