JOHANNESBURG, March 9 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand edgedfirmer on Friday, pausing a week-long slide on fears about theimpact of a potential global trade war following U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's plan to impose tariffs on steel imports.At 0645 GMT the rand was 0.04 percent weaker at11.9200 per dollar, having touched a low of 11.9450 overnight,bringing it closer to the 12.00 technical milestone likely tocause further losses.The rand has been under pressure all week as the spot pricesof precious and industrial metals such as gold, platinum andiron ore have fallen due to the concern's over Trump's plan.The currency was also hurt by European Central BankPresident Mario Draghi's cautious statement on Thursday, whichdragged the euro down, and with the rand. With no major data locally and U.S. non-farm payrolls datadue later in the session traders are expected to treadcautiously and opt out of long rand positions.
* In fixed income, the benchmark government bond due in 2026 was flat at 8.095 percent.* Stocks were set to open higher at 0700 GMT, with the JSEsecurities exchange's Top-40 futures index up 0.3percent. (Reporting by Mfuneko ToyanaEditing by Joe Brock)
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