South Africa's CPI year-on-year prints at 4.5% vs the expected 4.6%.

TreasuryONE said in a snap comment, "This was still in the middle of the inflation target band, which keeps us of the opinion that SARB won't look at changing interest rates in the next few MPC meetings.

"USDZAR undeterred by this as it is still trading stronger on the back of good Chinese data this morning, currently at R13.97."

Peregrine Treasury Solutions's Bianca Botes said in a morning note to clients that the rand remained range-bound on Wednesday morning.

By 08:57, the rand was changing hands at R13.98/$.

"The rand remains range bound with good support. Continued dovish views coming from the ECB indicate that the economic woes of Europe are far from over, while slightly more upbeat data from China is currently supporting emerging markets.

"Local and EU CPI are due for release today, followed by local retail figures.

"China released GDP figures in the early hours of this morning, indicating growth of 6.4% year-on-year in Q1 2019.

She said the rand was trading in a relatively tight technical range of R13.90 to R14.12.

Stocks trade mixed after China data; dollar slips

Adam Haigh, Bloomberg

Stocks in Asia fluctuated after positive data on China’s economy raised doubts over the possibility of additional stimulus. The 10-year Treasury yield ticked higher and the dollar retreated.

Japanese shares eked out modest gains, while those in Hong Kong and Shanghai swung between gains and losses.

Equities in Australia fell and were little changed in Korea. European futures signaled a muted open, while US futures edged higher.

China’s economic growth figures were above expectations, as was industrial production and retail sales data. The yield on China’s 10-year sovereign notes climbed to its highest level since November.

Earlier, the Nasdaq 100 closed within 0.1 percent of an all-time high, while gains fizzled late in the session to leave the S&P 500 Index little changed.

China’s economy unexpectedly held up in the first three months as policy makers boosted stimulus measures to sustain growth, and should ease concerns about a flagging global economy. The resilience suggests that pro-growth policies are taking effect, with tax cuts and supportive monetary policy supporting sentiment.

Traders are also busy digesting corporate earnings, where sentiment has been bullish, though volumes muted.

“Given the recent decent data flows, it makes sense for the Chinese central bank to refrain from additional easing measures for the time being and to wait and see whether the current policy is sufficient to stabilize the economy,” said Commerzbank AG Senior Emerging Markets Economist Hao Zhou.

“Further reductions in reserve requirement ratios are therefore unlikely for the time being.”

Elsewhere, oil climbed after a report showed a surprise drop in crude inventories. The New Zealand dollar tumbled after inflation slowed more than forecast, while the Australian dollar rose after the Chinese figures.