JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand held steady against the dollar early on Monday, finding a stable footing after strong U.S. jobs data knocked emerging market assets at the end of last week. Dealers expected a quiet trading session with no domestic data and little happening in offshore markets. South Africa's currency is expected to stay within the wide range of 10.4050 to 10.2250 set on Friday. At 0625 GMT, the rand was at 10.3350, steady but with a weaker bias against the dollar. "Even though the rand has recouped some of Friday's losses, we suspect that rand bears have merely locked in some profits and that there is scope for another wave of rand selling over the coming days," Absa Capital analysts said in a note. South African assets are also under pressure from mining labour unrest, one of the main domestic reasons behind the rand's 22 percent drop against the dollar this year. Government bonds held steady, with the yield at 8.23 percent on the benchmark 2026 issue and 6.105 percent on the 2015 note. Dealers said they expected yields to consolidate during what is expected to be a quiet session, although a sustained break through 8.32 percent on the 2026 opens up more weakness. Central bank Deputy Governor Daniel Mminele will give a keynote address at an Africa financial conference in Johannesburg this morning. The bank will release his remarks at 0800 GMT.

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