S.Africa's rand steady vs dollar, stock futures up

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand steadied against the dollar on Friday and is expected to track international developments such as the gold price while the local bourse looked set to open in positive territory.

The JSE's blue-chip Top-40 December futures contract was up 0.3 percent ahead of the 0700 GMT, after the bourse closed lower on Thursday.

The rand was trading at 8.5310 against the dollar at 0637 GMT, from a previous close of 7.54. The rand fell to 7.58 in the previous session as gold pulled back from record highs.

"The range for today is 7.47 - 7.58, my view is to buy dollars and that should see the rand above 7.60", said a Johannesburg-based dealer.

The rand has gained more than 20 percent against the dollar so far this year. Central bank Governor Gill Marcus repeated the stance that the central bank would not intervene in the market to weaken the currency and was active to build its reserves.

Alvise Marino, emerging market analyst at IDEAglobal said investors might use the levels above 7.50/dollar as a buying opportunity and the rand could firm further before year-end.

"This (Marcus) announcement ... is likely to provide reassurance to investors that there will be no surprises in the event of a break below 7.30. This should, therefore, provide investors with stronger confidence, allowing them to add exposure in the event of a general rebound in risk appetite," he said.

South Africa's government weakened, pulling back after gaining in previous sessions. The yield on the 2015 bond went up 4 basis points to 8.335 percent and that on the 2036 bond was up 7 basis point to 8.735 percent.

"In big picture terms ... supply is still a risk and we prefer to sell (bonds) into rallies with a bias to short the long end," said market watchers 4CAST in a note.

The government has increased the amount it offers at its weekly bond auctions as it faces a record budget deficit of 7.6 percent to GDP due to a recession.