The South African rand was weaker in early trade on Thursday, ahead of U.S. jobless claims data that could give hints at future interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
At 0608 GMT, the rand traded at 18.3800 against the dollar , around 0.33% weaker than its previous close.
The dollar last traded at 102.080 - around 0.06% stronger - against a basket of global currencies.
"(The dollar/rand exchange rate) is strongly biased downwards this morning but has struggled to gain any momentum and the multi-week trend still looks like it is over," said Rand Merchant Bank analysts in a research note.