JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand steadied against the dollar early on Monday, holding on to gains made in the previous session after disappointing U.S. wage growth pared bets the Federal Reserve would accelerate its pace of interest rate increases this year. At 0645 GMT, the rand traded at 11.8175 per dollar, not far off its New York close of 11.82000 on Friday. The currency is expected to take cues from overseas trends in the absence of domestic drivers. Stocks were set to open higher at 0700 GMT, with the JSE securities exchange's Top-40 futures index up 0.77 percent. In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark government bond due in 2026 was down one basis point to 8.065 percent, reflecting firmer bond prices. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo)