JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand was little changed on Friday, ahead of U.S. inflation data next week that could hint at the future interest rate path in the world's biggest economy.
At 1506 GMT, the rand traded at 18.4625 against the dollar, near its previous close of 18.4550.
The dollar index was last trading around 0.16% stronger against a basket of global currencies.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, both the blue-chip Top-40 and the broader all-share index closed around 1.2% higher, given a boost by the resources index.
"The markets have run extremely hard, maybe a little bit too hard because next week we're going to have (U.S.) inflation numbers again, so the market shouldn't get ahead of itself," said Casparus Treurnicht, portfolio manager at Gryphon Asset Management.
Traders will be looking toward U.S. inflation readings next week for clues about the trajectory of U.S. interest rates, with the last month's data boosting expectations that rate cuts will only come in November.
The rand, like most emerging market currencies, takes direction from U.S. economic data in addition to local events.
South Africa's benchmark 2030 government bond was marginally stronger, with the yield down 1.5 basis points to 10.485%.
(Reporting by Nellie Peyton and Tannur Anders; Editing by Neil Fullick, Bhargav Acharya and Aurora Ellis)
