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

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand held its ground against the dollar early on Friday as expectations that domestic interest rates would remain high this year attracted investors seeking higher yield. * Rand up 0.15 percent at 14.1980 per dollar by 0645 GMT,compared with Thursday's New York close at 14.2200. * Reserve Bank kept benchmark repo rate at 7 percent onThursday, citing a weak economy. * Stocks set to open lower at 0700 GMT, with the JSE Top-40futures index down 0.49 percent. * Government bonds firm, with the yield on the 2026benchmark falling 1 basis point to 8.74 percent. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Ed Cropley)