JOHANNESBURG, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The South African rand slipped on Friday as traders digested mixed monthly data from the central bank, the revenue service agency, and the National Treasury for clues about the health of Africa's largest economy.
At 1401 GMT the rand traded at 15.9650 against the U.S. dollar, down about 0.3% from Thursday's close.
The dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies, while gold -- one of South Africa's major exports -- rose in price and was on track for a seventh consecutive month of gains.
Data from the South African Reserve Bank showed that M3 money supply growth last month was 7.44%, down from 8.16% in December. Private sector credit growth for January was 8.83%, well above December's 8.74% but below the 8.84% estimated in a Reuters poll.
South Africa's revenue service agency published trade data that showed that the country recorded a trade surplus of 9.31 billion rand ($584.73 million) in January. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a surplus of 4.45 billion rand.
The National Treasury published budget balance data that showed South Africa recorded a budget deficit of 69.69 billion rand ($4.38 billion) in January.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was last up 1.3%.
South Africa's benchmark 2035 government bond was slightly weaker as the yield rose by 1.1 basis points to 7.995%.
"While sentiment (in local assets) is positive for now, any shift in commodity prices, global risk appetite or domestic politics could test the sustainability of the recent strength," said TreasuryONE currency strategist Wichard Cilliers.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov and Anathi Madubela;Editing by David Goodman and Jane Merriman)
