S.Africa's rand weakens, local stocks edge up

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand fell slightly against the dollar on Monday on the back of subdued appetite for risky assets while local stocks edged higher.

The Johannesburg Top-40 index rose 0.36 percent to

24,357.77 points, while the broader All-Share index advanced 0.32 percent to 26,894.74 points. The local bourse started trading late on Monday due to technical problems.

"In summary what's lifting us up is probably a relief that maybe the news on Dubai is not as bad as what it seemed. The global markets are handling that better than expected," said Jan Meintjes, a trader at Gryphon Asset Management.

The rand was trading at 7.43 against the dollar at 1600 GMT, 0.3 percent weaker than its previous close of 7.4120.

It erased its earlier gains to 7.32 as uncertainty prevailed in global markets despite the United Arab Emirates central bank promising additional liquidity to local banks.

"The rand's been following international markets tracking the euro and equity markets. It did quite well this morning but it has come back a bit," said David Gracey head of trading at Nedbank.

On the bourse, industrial group Bidvest climbed 3.34 percent to 119.87 rand, followed by MTN group, which added 3.30 percent to 118.80 rand.

"I don't there's specific news on our side apart maybe a company like MTN has lagged the market after being under pressure," Meintjes said.