JOHANNESBURG, Aug 15 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand was little changed in early trade on Thursday, pausing after the previous day’s modest gains on U.S. inflation data which strengthened expectations that interest rate cuts in the world’s biggest economy are near.

At 0655 GMT, the rand traded at 18.08 against the dollar, close to the level where it ended Wednesday’s session.

The rand closed up more than 0.1% against the U.S. currency on Wednesday, supported by upbeat domestic business confidence and retail sales figures in addition to the U.S. inflation data.

“With the bulk of the market-moving U.S. data now released, the dollar-rand market will lose some of that downside momentum. Technical support around current levels, given the several prior lows, will also make significant further rand appreciation more challenging,” ETM Analytics said in a research note.

No major South African data is due to be released on Thursday or Friday, so the rand is likely to move mainly on offshore factors.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was marginally weaker in early deals, the yield up 2 basis points to 9.155%.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)