The rand came under renewed pressure late on Wednesday after a report showing an increase in US private-sector employment supported the dollar.

US employers added 238 000 private-sector jobs last month, the most since November 2012, according to the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) report.

“We saw the dollar start doing well shortly after the data was released,” a Johannesburg-based currency trader said.

At 3.40pm the rand was at R10.6935 to the dollar from its overnight close of R10.6355.

Against the euro, the rand was at R14.5255 from R14.4786 at its previous close and was at R17.5509 against the pound from R17.4357 at its previous close.

The euro was at $1.3584 from $1.3616 at its previous close.

Attention now turns to the release of the US Labour Department’s employment report due on Friday.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires have predicted a small downshift in December payrolls. The median forecast is for a gain of 191 000 nonfarm jobs.

The rand is expected to settle between R10.60/$ and R10.70/$ ahead of the nonfarm payrolls release, but risks remain for further weakness should the jobs data beat expectations.