The rand is trading at R7.13 in midday trade on Friday, down from its earlier level.
The rand was softer in noon trade on Friday but remained within its broader range of between 7.00 and 7.14 to the US dollar.
At 11:52 local time, the rand was bid at R7.1325/$ from its previous close of R7.0521/$. It was bid at R9.7777/€ from R9.6750/€ before and at R11.3007/£ from R11.2199/£ at its previous close.
The euro was bid at $1.3714 from $1.3722 at its previous close.
Michael Keenan, Head of Forex Research at Standard Bank , told I-Net Bridge that if the rand moved beyond its broader range it would head to 7.17, if not 7.21, to the US dollar.
"There are no fundamental reasons for the rand's movements ? the SA Reserve Bank could be buying more dollars and non-residents may be continuing to sell bonds.
"When the gold price slipped yesterday, the rand didn't react, however this is a factor that remains in the background," Keenan added.
In its morning report on Friday, RMB noted that the dollar/rand's fresh attempt to breach 7.10 yesterday was completely unconvincing, "leaving us in the 7.00-7.10 range and with the upside momentum broken".
The natural course of things should be for the rand to start edging stronger, RMB added.
"Global fundamentals, as reflected in other commodity/high-yielding currencies, suggest that we should be somewhere in the 6.80-6.90 range, so there is a lot of ground to make up."
However, there was a wild card.
RMB noted that over the past few weeks gold prices had started to slide as investors began unwinding speculative positions.
"This became a rout last night, with prices tumbling almost $40/oz. The market is now down at $1,312/oz from $1,425/oz at the start of the year, and risks further declines.
"The rand doesn't generally track gold in the short term but there is clearly a negative for rand bears to hang fresh trades on. This probably isn't enough to get us through 7.10 but the story bears watching."
RMB said a new a milestone could be reached today as fourth-quarter data from 2010 should show that the US economy was back to its pre-crisis high.
"The market will of course be watching the actual growth number, which creates risks this afternoon.
"Meanwhile, we await another milestone: the Dow is at the cusp of breaking 12,000, also a level last seen before Lehman's went belly-up."
