A softer rand tracked the euro in the morning session on Monday. The local currency is expected to trade towards the topside of its current range of 7.70 to 7.80 against the greenback, a local trader noted.

At 09:00 the rand was bid at 7.7591 to the dollar from 7.7466 at its previous close. It was bid at 10.5774 to the euro from its previous close of 10.5847 and was at 12.0482 against the sterling from 12.0951.

The euro was bid at $1.3629 from $1.3642 previously.

A local currency trader said: "We have seen a few export orders coming in, with the local currency tracking the euro this morning.

If we break 7.78 against the dollar, we could push to 7.88, but for now the range is at 7.70-7.80.

RMB analysts noted in their morning report that US dollar/rand's break of its 7.25 ? 7.76 range potentially opens up the way for moves to 8.00.

"This is all a story of Euro/US dollar, which has shed over 10 percent since its 1.5145 high seen in November. And there seems to be no stopping the adjustment," analysts John Cairns and Nema Ramkhelawan said.

While Greece got begrudging approval for its budget last week and continues to get verbal support from EU policymakers, attention has switched to Portugal and Spain. They noted that fiscal conditions in these countries were not as severe as in Greece but their political will to deal with the problems was lower. "As a result, futures positioning data shows speculators increasingly turning against the Euro," they said.

"With US dollar/rand now fully attached, every Euro/US dollar move is going to be reflected directly. This implies we are betting on European credit spreads ? a function mostly just of sentiment. We will receive Eurozone GDP data this week and the relative performance of the troubled countries might affect. In this environment, US data seems to be having a smaller impact.

"The downward revisions of the US non-farm employment data on Friday barely caused a blip and so we can probably expect US retail sales data on Thursday to likewise be overshadowed by Eurozone problems," Cairns and Ramkhelawan said.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that the euro fell against the dollar and the yen in Asia on Monday as European authorities at the weekend meeting of financial heads from the Group of Seven failed to offer realistic plans to help Greece out of its debt woes.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Saturday in Iqaluit, Canada, where the G-7 meeting was held, the ECB expects "the Greek government will take all necessary decisions" to cut its debt burden, while the ECB "will continue to monitor closely" these steps.

Last week, Greece told the European Commission it would decrease its debt to 3 percent of gross domestic product from 13 percent currently. But market participants don't believe the plan is realistic, continuing to exert downward pressure on the European common currency, dealers said.

"History shows that drastic cuts of deficits in such a short period have mostly been impossible," said Tomoki Ohashi, a senior dealer at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. "It's difficult to find market participants who are confident in Greece's plan."

As of 0450 GMT, the euro was at $1.3642 from $1.3663 in New York Friday and Y121.89 from Y122.14. The unit may fall below $1.3500 and Y120.00 in the coming days, said Yuji Saito, head of foreign exchange at Credit Agricole Cib.

Meanwhile, the safe-haven yen should rise this week as China's economic trade data and inflation reports due Wednesday and Thursday may add to investors' risk aversion, analysts said.

China's data due this week "will probably foster perceptions of inflationary pressure and concerns about policy tightening, which are yen-positive factors," said Tomoko Fujii, a strategist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

Bonds little moved despite weak rand

South African bonds were little changed from their previous closing levels on Monday morning despite a weaker rand. The rand has weakened due to a stronger dollar.

By 08:15 the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 7.250 percent and offered at 7.230 percent after closing at 7.220 percent on Friday and the medium-term R157 was at 8.370 percent after closing at 8.365 percent previously. The long-term R186 was bid at 9.145 percent and offered at 9.120 percent from 9.115 percent previously.