South Africa's rand firmer as dollar slips on Trump jitters, stocks open lower

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed against the dollar in early trade on Tuesday as the greenback eased on uncertainty over whether U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration would actually be able to implement effective policies. * At 0705 GMT, the rand traded at 13.5450 per dollar, 1.24percent firmer from its New York close on Monday. * The dollar was 0.15 percent lower against a basket of sixmajor peers, at 101.030. Expectations that the Trumpadministration would enact economic stimulus measures backed bymassive fiscal spending had buoyed the dollar in the past twomonths and weighed on emerging markets currencies. * Investors also waiting for British Prime Minister TheresaMay to lay out plans to exit the European Union amid fearsBritain will lose access to the single market. * "Having peaked at 13.70, USD/ZAR now has a slight downsidebias but we are waiting for direction from any spillovers fromthe Brexit speech and for U.S. markets to return from holiday toprovide more direction on the Trump trade," Rand Merchant Bankanalyst John Cairns said in a note. * Locally, focus on mining data due out at 0930 GMT. * On the stock market, the Top-40 index was down 0.60percent to 46,055 in early trade. * In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark governmentbond due in 2026 dipped 1.5 basis points to 8.66 percent. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Ed Stoddard)