JOHANNESBURG, March 18 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand weakened in early trade on Monday, at the start of a week that will include South African inflation figures and several major central bank rate decisions.
At 0705 GMT, the rand traded at 18.8000 against the U.S. dollar , about 0.3% weaker than its previous close.
The dollar was last trading down about 0.04% against a basket of global currencies.
Central banks in the United States, Japan, UK and Australia will all announce rate decisions this week, with most expected to leave policy unchanged.
Locally, investors' focus will be on February inflation figures which will be released on Wednesday.
"The rand could be in for a volatile week as it will have to navigate some risks in the U.S. dollar, where inflation is still proving a little tough to tame," said Andre Cilliers, Currency Strategist at TreasuryONE.
"Should the Fed minutes come out a little dovish, we could see the rand trending stronger," he added in a research note.
On the stock market, the Top-40 index was up 0.73% while the broader all-share was 0.63% higher in early trade.
South Africa's benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker in early deals, with the yield up 2 basis points to 10.385%.
Reporting by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
Source: Reuters