JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand steadied against the dollar early on Thursday ahead of local mining and manufacturing data and the European Central Bank's policy decision that may set the tone for currency markets. * At 0645 GMT, the rand traded at 13.5025 per dollarcompared with its New York close of 13.4750 on Wednesday. * Statistics South Africa releases October mining data at0930 GMT and manufacturing data at 1100 GMT. * Global focus on the ECB, which is expected to extend itsbond-buying programme. * Risk appetite also getting an extra boost after Chinareported upbeat trade figures with exports and imports inNovember beating forecasts. [nL4N1E31XA] * Stocks were set to open higher at 0700 GMT, with the JSEsecurities exchange's Top-40 futures index up 1.08 percent. * In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark instrumentdue in 2026 added 1 basis point to 8.845 percent. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)