Rand steady, stocks to open higher

South Africa's rand held its ground against the dollar early on Monday, after a larger-than-expected June trade surplus pushed the currency to its firmest in more than eight months in the previous session.

* At 0645 GMT, rand trades at 13.9040 to dollar, not far off Friday's close of 13.8900.

* Rand trades at strongest levels since November 2015.

* Analysts say currency to take its cue from global eventsthis week, with little in the way of local data.

* Local bourse to open higher at 0700 GMT, blue chip futuresindex rises 0.84 percent.

* Government bonds firm, yield on 2026 benchmark dips 6basis points to 8.59 percent.