JOHANNESBURG, Dec 9 Reuters South Africa39;s rand firmed early on Monday, at the start of a week packed with economic data releases that will shed light on the health of Africa39;s most industrialised economy heading into the new year.

At 0732 GMT, the rand traded at 17.94 against the dollar , about 0.5 stronger than its previous close.

The rand was able to take back some ground last week, which could extend through the start of this week, although with so much domestic data due, there is bound to be some apprehension to take on any significant directional trade, said ETM Analytics in a research note.

South Africafocussed investors will this week look to October mining production and manufacturing data on Tuesday and retail sales figures on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday Statistics South Africa will publish November consumer inflation data, and on Thursday it will release producer inflation numbers for the same month.

All of these data sets are relevant as investors try to gauge prospects for the SA economy through the year ahead, the ETM note added.

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top40 index was down slightly in early trade.

South Africa39;s benchmark 2030 government bond was little changed, the yield at 8.925.

Reporting by Tannur Anders Editing by Gareth Jones

Source Reuters