South Africa's rand slightly weaker, still range-bound

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand edged lower against the dollar on Monday, but was still trading within a tight band as talks to end the U.S. government shutdown dragged into a third week.

The rand was at 9.9250 to the dollar at 0613 GMT, down nearly 0.3 percent from Friday's New York close.

U.S. Senate negotiations to end the fiscal crisis showed signs of progress on Sunday but there were fears that lawmakers were cutting it close as an October 17 deadline to raise the debt ceiling approaches.

A debt default by the world's largest economy would rattle global markets.

Domestically, there are few data releases this week, which should mean the rand will take its clues from overseas markets.

"Due to this lingering uncertainty surrounding the U.S., as well as the dearth of local data over the coming days, rand participants are still lacking conviction, which implies that the rand is likely to continue oscillating around the psychological 10.00 rand to the dollar handle for the time being," Absa Capital analysts wrote in a morning note.

Government bonds were mixed, with the yield on the 2026 paper inching up 0.5 basis points to 7.865 percent and that on the 2015 issue down 4 basis points at 5.88 percent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-africas-rand-slightly-weaker-still-range-bound-071805784--finance.html
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