Bianca Botes, Corporate Treasury Manager at Peregrine Treasury Solutions said the rand started the day at stable levels against major currencies, remaining fairly flat although edging marginally weaker compared to Friday's close.

By 10:41 the rand was changing hands at R14.13 to the greenback.

"Currency markets continue to focus on the China-US trade talks and Brexit developments.

"Today sees a light data calendar, with UK inflation expectations and US factory orders due for release," she said.

Stocks trade mixed; oil extends rally

Adam Haigh, Bloomberg

Stocks in Asia kicked off the week on a cautious note and European futures fell, while the yen inched higher with gold as investors digested the progress made on trade last week and U.S. employment data Friday.

Oil rose as fighting in Libya raised the risk of supply outages. A rally in Shanghai fizzled, with the market there underperforming, while equities also fell in Tokyo as the yen pushed higher.

Shares rose in Sydney and saw modest gains in Hong Kong.

S&P 500 Index futures slipped after the benchmark rounded out last week with gains that took it to a six-month high.

European equity-index futures also fell, signaling stocks will start trading lower in London and Europe.

The dollar was steady and benchmark Treasury yields ticked below 2.5%.

As President Donald Trump pressured the Federal Reserve to sustain growth, comments from both the US and China suggested progress was being made in trade talks.China and the US will keep talking on remaining issues after making new progress in the latest round of talks, Xinhua reported.

Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the two sides are "closer and closer" to a deal, and that top-tier officials would be talking this week.

“Valuations are ok, global growth is expected to improve into the second half of the year, monetary and fiscal policy has become more supportive of markets and the trade war is receding,” said Shane Oliver, investment strategist at AMP Capital Investors. This “should support decent gains for share markets through 2019 as a whole.”

Oil extended gains after capping its best week in almost two months. Forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar are trying to enter the Libyan capital Tripoli in an escalation of fighting. The potential disruption to oil supplies from a member of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries overshadowed the biggest increase in US active rigs since May.

Elsewhere, the pound edged higher as British Prime Minister Theresa May appealed to both the public and politicians in search of support for a compromise departure plan.

While May will meet EU leaders Wednesday to make her case for a short extension to June 30, European Council President Donald Tusk is pushing for a delay of as long as a year to allow time to forge a new consensus.