The South African rand was steady in early trade on Friday, as traders look ahead to US labour market data later in the day for indications on the Federal Reserve's policy trajectory.

At 0719 GMT, the rand traded at 16.54 against the dollar, little changed from its previous close of 16.5225.

"On the non-farm payroll, it is forecasted to be lower at 45 000 from 64 000, with the unemployment rate at 4.6%. We are definitely going to see light at the end of the tunnel from the (government) shutdown, but I don't think the numbers will give firm direction," said Adam Phillips, Treasury specialist at Umkhulu Treasury.

This week, the rand rallied to a near three-year high as sentiment towards South Africa remained positive, with the JSE stock index hitting record levels and bond yields subdued.

"The Rand is consolidating around the R16.50 level after the last two days' correction from near 3-year highs. There is talk that the Reserve Bank has absorbed some of the recent strong Dollar inflows into the market in order to build up its foreign reserves," said Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE.

On Thursday the central bank released data that showed that South Africa's net foreign reserves rose to $71.14-billion at the end of December from $70.02-billion in November.

South Africa's benchmark 2035 government bond was soft in early deals, with the yield up 5 basis points to 8.375%.