South African rand steady ahead of local data releases

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand was unchanged in early deals on Thursday, ahead of a slew of local economic data points that could provide fresh clues on the health of the economy.

At 0647 GMT, the rand was flat at 18.6650 against the dollar.

The dollar index was last down 0.25% after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and struck a dovish tone on Wednesday.

Local investors' focus will be on a quarterly bulletin to be released by the South African Reserve Bank, third-quarter formal sector employment data and November producer inflation figures by Statistics South Africa due later in the day.

South Africa's benchmark 2030 government bond was flat in early deals, with the yield at 10.055%.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)