By Phumza Macanda JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand hit fresh 14-month lows against the dollar on Tuesday, with technical factors pointing to further losses for the currency, already the worst performer among emerging market currencies tracked by Reuters. Government bonds weakened before a weekly auction that should give clues to investor appetite for local debt. The government will offer 2.1 billion rand split between the longer-dated 2026 bond and the 2041 issue. Global markets were in negative territory and the euro fell after ratings agency Standard and Poor's cut its debt rating on Italy, fuelling further worries about the stability of the euro zone. Domestic stocks looked set to follow the global trend and open lower, with the JSE's December futures contract down 0.2 percent before the start of trade at 0700 GMT. The rand was trading at 7.7425 to the dollar at 0640 GMT, 1.2 percent weaker than Monday's New York close of 7.65. It hit a fresh 14 month low of 7.75 earlier. "With little sign that euro-area uncertainty is about to vanish and with the rand having broken its ranges, the next few days are going to be uncomfortable," Absa Capital in a note to clients. "Technicals suggest the push this morning above a 5-year trendline at 7.66 (to ) target 7.80," it said. The rand has lost nearly 5 percent to the dollar so far this year, but it is still up nearly 20 percent since the beginning of 2009. The losses in the past week will be on the Reserve Bank's monetary policy committee's agenda when it starts its three-day meeting on Tuesday, with its decision due on Thursday. The rand's previous resilience helped to keep inflation inside the central bank's target of between 3 and 6 percent, allowing the bank to leave interest rates at 30-year lows this year. The Reserve Bank is expected to keep the repo rate steady at 5.5 percent. Government bonds weakened, extending last week's losses as the market curbed its previous expectations of a rate cut. The yield on the 2015 bond was up two basis points to 7.0 percent and the 2026 yield climbed 4.5 basis points to 8.455 percent. The yields on both the 2015 and 2026 bonds were eyeing multi-week highs of 7.035 percent and 8.5 percent respectively, which were hit last week as foreigners sold local bonds.

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