A South African one rand coin sits on South African rand banknotes in this arranged photograph in Pretoria, South Africa, on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019. The rand ended a tumultuous week on a positive note, gaining against the dollar for a second day and heading for its first weekly advance in four as technical indicators suggested recent declines are overdone. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 27 (Reuters) – The South African rand was little changed in early trading on Tuesday, ahead of several local data releases later this week.

At 0737 GMT, the rand traded at 17.7650 against the dollar, near its Monday closing level of 17.7575.

South African investors will focus on July’s producer inflation data on Thursday and money supply, budget and trade balance data on Friday, which could give clues on the health of Africa’s most industrialised economy.

Like other risk-sensitive currencies, the rand could also take direction from global drivers.

“The dollar-rand has encountered tough support around the 17.7000 mark… It is as if the currency pair is waiting for a catalyst that will open the door for another leg of rand appreciation,” said ETM Analytics in a research note.

“In the short term, it is unclear what that might be.”

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Top-40 index was about 0.2% up in early trade.

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South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker in early deals, as the yield climbed 3 basis points to 9.115%.

(Reporting by Tannur Anders; Editing by Bernadette Baum)