South Africa's rand steady, markets wary of US retreat from stimulus

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand was fairly steady against the dollar in early Thursday trade, but could weaken amid rising expectations the U.S. central bank would soon pull back from assets purchases that have injected money into emerging markets. Wary investors are also eyeing labour strife in Africa's biggest economy, with a strike for higher pay hitting output at most of the country's gold mines on Wednesday. The rand traded at 10.2600 per dollar by 0643 GMT, just 0.15 percent off the previous day's New York close at 10.2450. "The rand is holding up remarkably well as it enters a busy end-week (but) expect considerable volatility today and even more so tomorrow," said Rand Merchant Bank currency analyst John Cairns in a note to clients. Emerging economies meeting in Russia this week are expected to discuss the risks to global markets from the Federal Reserve's expected withdrawal of monetary stimulus. Government bonds were sold in early trade, pushing yields higher across the curve. The 2026 market benchmark added 4.5 basis points to 8.57 percent while that on the 2015 issue was up 2 basis points to 6.455 percent.