Statistics South Africa will release March's retail sales figures on Wednesday.
The rand has weakened near a four-year low against the dollar early, stung by concerns about labour unrest, but market players said it was unlikely to fall much further while investors awaited domestic inflation data.
The rand fell 0.4% to 9.5900 early in the session on Wednesday. It hit a four-year low of 9.61 on Tuesday, dragged down by worries about labour tension in the mining industry and a firm dollar.
Dealers expect a rebound from the sharp fall of the past nine sessions, with the 9.61 level seen as resistance for dollar bills.
"The upside momentum could start to stall around these levels. Failure to break above the prior high of 9.6100 seen [on Tuesday] could see the dollar/rand top out," Tradition Analytics told investors in a morning note on Wednesday.
"Those trading off a long dollar base should proceed with caution and even consider trimming some of their long dollar positions."
Consumer price inflation numbers for April are due at 8am GMT. The data will be keenly watched as it comes a day before the central bank announces a decision on monetary policy after three days of deliberations.
Economists expect inflation to brake to 5.8% year-on-year in April, from 5.9% in March.
Government bond yields dropped 3.5 basis points to 5.16% on the 2015 note and three basis points to 7.02% on the 2026 issue. – Reuters