In today's first exchanges, the South African Rand was little changed. Analysts believe that global factors, including the Israel-Hamas conflict and American economic data, are likely to set the tone for trade

The rand traded at 19.0475 against the dollar, close to Friday's closing level of 19.0325 at 06:40 GMT. The exchange rate had been comfortable around 19 Rands to the dollar, but that rising U.S. Treasury yields were likely to put pressure on the Rand, according to Rand Merchant Bank. For ETM Analytics, “investors' concern about the spread of the conflict in the Middle East was driving demand for safe assets. This means that the Rand will be a price-taker, with none of the predicted national data being important enough to outweigh international developments.”