JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed against the dollar but traded within the previous session's levels on Thursday as the currency tracked moves in the euro, with domestic drivers absent as trade thinned ahead of the holidays. The rand was at 8.1350 to the dollar at 1518 GMT, 1.3 percent firmer than Wednesday's close in New York trade. It strengthened to 8.07 on Wednesday but has only reached 8.1235 on Thursday as the euro fell against the dollar in the later part of the session, capping rand gains. "It's thin markets. Dollar/rand has traded in the expected range of 8.1000-8.3000, with the rand this afternoon following euro/dollar lower," said Christopher Shiells, an emerging markets analyst at Informa Global Markets (IGM). Jobs data out of the United States came out better than expected, suggesting a recovery in that labour market was gaining speed, which boosted the dollar against the debt-stricken euro region's single currency. The rand will first look to break through Wednesday's 8.07 level, before meeting next resistance at December 8's 8.01 region. "On the upside we expect a test of the year high of 8.6000 in early January if the euro zone crisis does not show signs of improving," IGM's Shiells said, adding the rand was unlikely to do anything outside of following the euro/dollar pair until the end of the year. Government bonds ended firmer with the yield on the benchmark four-year bond down 3 basis points to 6.76 percent while the 15-year benchmark yield dropped 2 basis points to 8.535 percent. The local bond market is trading at shortened hours, up until 1000 GMT, until December 30.

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