Rand slips, Chinese data limits losses

South Africa's rand weakened against the dollar on Wednesday as support from an emerging market rally ran out of steam, although positive Chinese trade data limited the local currency's losses.

Prior to Wednesday's retreat, the rand had notched three straight gains against the greenback, as a firmer oil price boosted emerging market currencies.

The rand's losses on Wednesday were offset by surprisingly strong trade data from China, a key commodity consumer.

"Dollar/rand is caught between the positive of the commodity prices and the negative of the (stronger) dollar," said Rand Merchant Bank currency strategist John Cairns.

"The good Chinese trade data will spur some rand gains but the dollar bounce implies dollar/rand may not be able to break the key 14.62 level."

Analysts at Standard Bank said in a note the rand would likely find support at 14.6000 and resistance around 14.80/85.

Elsewhere in South African markets, government bonds strengthened slightly, with the yield for the benchmark instrument due in 2026 dipping 1.5 basis points to 9.085 percent.

On the stock market, the Top-40 index was up 1.4 percent in early trade, while the all-share index rose 1.3 percent.