JOHANNESBURG, April 10 (Reuters) - The South African rand was steady on Friday, with its future direction likely to be determined by the outcome of weekend talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad.
* At 1310 GMT the rand traded at 16.3950 against thedollar, barely changed from its previous close of 16.3975. * The risk-sensitive currency was set to end the week morethan 3% stronger versus the dollar. * The rand surged on Wednesday after U.S. President DonaldTrump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran and has held mostof those gains since. * Adam Phillips, treasury specialist at Umkhulu Treasury,said in a morning note that the market mood was "steady butnervous". For the rand, "it all centres on (the talks in)Islamabad this weekend," Phillips added. * South Africa's government sold 1 billion rand of its2031 and 2050 inflation-linked bonds at auction, central bankdata showed on Friday. * February manufacturing production figures published onThursday showed the sector was weak before the Iran war. * Africa's biggest economy had started to build momentumlast year and investor confidence was on the rise. Days beforethe Middle East conflict erupted the South African governmentpredicted growth would accelerate again this year to 1.6%, butthat forecast will probably be revised. * On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange the Top-40 index wasup 0.9%. * The benchmark 2035 government bond strengthened, as theyield fell 8.5 basis points to 8.45%.(Reporting by Alexander Winning and Nilutpal Timsina; Editing by Toby Chopra and Andrea Ricci)
