The rand continued to trade in a narrow range of 7.57-7.61 against the greenback in late afternoon trade on Monday.

At 3.40pm the rand was bid at 7.5682 to the dollar from 7.5774 at its previous close. It was bid at 10.5317 to the euro from its previous close of 10.5300 and was at 12.0310 against the sterling from 12.1144.

The euro was bid at US$1.3924 from US$1.3874 previously.

A local currency trader said: "It has been a very quiet day. We saw the euro bounce, but only a fraction. We saw small dollars at 7.57, but we are still within a tight range of 7.61 the high, against the dollar, with very little happening."

Earlier, Dow Jones Newswire reported that the euro staged a rebound while the pound got hammered hard in Europe Monday.

For the most part, the dollar is higher, helped by last Friday's stronger-than-expected gross domestic product figures from the US as well as anticipation of more strong data later this week.

The single currency took centre stage as a technical rebound helped it to bounce early in the day despite continued concerns about Greece's debt problems.

The latest data from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange showed that speculative euro shorts have risen back close to the all time record on September 2008.

The single currency got an additional lift from the latest euro zone purchasing managers' index, which rose to 52.4 from 51.6. The market had only been looking for a rise to 52.0.

However, market participants doubt that the euro's new-found strength will last long, given that Greece's debt problems are not about to go away and given that economic data continues to point to a more robust recovery in the U.S.

Overall, market sentiment was helped by the surprisingly strong fourth- quarter GDP data showing that the economy grew by 5.7 percent and not just by 4.8 percent as expected.

Bonds firm on short-covering

Bonds gained a few basis points in afternoon trade on Monday on the back of some short-covering.

A well-bid Transnet bond auction also provided some support for the gilt market.

By 3.55pm the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 7.170 percent from 7.230 percent when it closed on Friday, and the medium-term R157 was bid at 7.345 percent after closing at 8.380 percent previously. The long-term R186 was bid at 9.145 percent from 9.165 percent previously.