JOHANNESBURG: The South African rand steadied against the dollar early on Thursday, taking a breather from the previous session's rally.

At 0625 GMT the rand traded at 14.7950 against the dollar, unchanged from its previous close after gaining more than 1% on a weaker dollar.

The rand's resilience is somewhat surprising given increased expectations for tapering of US economic stimulus next month, analysts at Oxford Economics Africa wrote in a note.

The rand has taken its cue from swings in global market sentiment in recent weeks, given an absence of major local catalysts.

The US dollar touched its lowest point of the week against major rivals on Thursday, retreating from a rally that had lifted it to a one-year high on expectations of US Federal Reserve increases to interest rates.

In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark 2030 government bond was up 1.5 basis points to 9.395% in early deals.