South Africa's rand steady, stocks set to open flat

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand steadied against the dollar in early trade on Friday as investors waited for U.S. third quarter growth data later in the day. * At 0645 GMT, the rand trades at 13.8800 per dollar,largely unchanged from its New York close of 13.8750/dollar onThursday. * "It’s all about global data, in particular, the U.S. GDP.The bias remains for weakness as the expected strong U.S. GDPputs Fed hikes talk back to the fore." - Rand Merchant Bank. * Positive U.S. growth numbers would reinforce expectationsthat the Federal Reserve is gearing up to hike interest rates. Adisappointing result, however, could trigger a fall in thedollar. * Blue chip futures index down 0.11 percent, indicating JSEsecurities exchange opening flat at 0700 GMT. * Yield for the benchmark government bond due in 2026 dips 2basis points 8.905 percent. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Toby Chopra)