Johannesburg - South Africa's rand was softer against the dollar as trade resumed on Tuesday after the long Easter weekend, with dealers expecting it to take direction mainly from US Federal Reserve comments in the absence of local data.
At 06h51 GMT, the rand was at 15.5295 versus the greenback, 0.48 percent weaker than its previous close.
Read: Wall Street ends flat after choppy trade
Read: Nikkei slips after weak data
Markets awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for signals on when the US central bank is likely to raise interest rates.
“The tone of the address will largely dictate direction in coming sessions,” Standard Bank trader Inshaan Omar said in a market note.
Stocks were set to open largely flat at 07h00 GMT, with the JSE securities exchange's Top-40 futures index dipping just 0.17 percent.
Government bonds weakened slightly, and the yield for paper due in 2026 edged up 1 basis point to 9.38 percent.
REUTERS