South Africa rand, bonds steady in early trade

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand held steady in early trade on Tuesday, with the market waiting for domestic trade data on Wednesday and money supply numbers on Thursday.

At 0635 GMT, the rand was unchanged at 15.3125/dollar. Government bonds were also stable, with the yield on the benchmark paper due in 2026 unchanged at 9.595 percent.

South Africa is expected to post a narrower trade deficit of 3.7 billion rand ($242 million) in November after recording one of 21.4 billion rand in October - a number that stunned local markets and pushed the rand to record lows at the time.

In the equities market, the JSE securities exchange's Top-40 futures index was up 0.94 percent, pointing to a strong open for the index at 0700 GMT after Asian markets put in gains.