South Africa's rand weaker, stocks set to open lower

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand weakened against the dollar early on Friday, extending losses from the previous session after weak domestic economic data and the European Central Bank's decision to trim its stimulus programme knocked the currency lower. * At 0645 GMT, the rand traded at 13.7100 per dollar, 0.48percent weaker from its New York close on Thursday. * A firmer dollar as U.S. bond yields rose also weighed onthe rand. * "The global focus this morning will mostly be oninterpreting the ECB. Don't rule out further volatility," saidRand Merchant Bank analyst John Cairns. * Local focus on third-quarter current account data due outat 0800 GMT. * Stocks were set to open lower at 0700 GMT, with the JSEsecurities exchange's Top-40 futures index down 0.56 percent. * In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark instrumentdue in 2026 was flat at 8.895 percent. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)