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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand weakened against a resurgent dollar on Friday but was largely lacking direction in the absence of key data locally, while financial and mining shares dragged the local bourse lower.

Government bonds firmed after falling prices attracted buyers, but the short-term outlook for local paper is weak on the back of expected large debt issuances to cover a record budget deficit.

The rand was trading at 7.4175 against the dollar at 1545 GMT, 0.5 percent weaker than its previous New York close of 7.3795.

"The euro has come off a little bit. We went to 7.44/45 but we have not broken any serious support. I think 7.35/36 has to go before we can get on the downside but it's been a bit rangy," said Jim Bryson, chief dealer at Rand Merchant Bank.

He said the rand's direction will largely be determined by the dollar into next week, as the local calendar was bare of market-moving data save for PMI figures on Monday and retail sales data on Wednesday.

On bonds, the yield on the 2015 bond fell 7 basis points to 8.585 percent while that on the 2036 note was down 5 basis points to 9.145 percent.

"We've seen a couple of buyers coming in but the market has been quite thin. Bonds had weakened markedly and your institutional client are beginning to see buying interest at these levels," said a local bond trader.

STOCKS

On the bourse, the JSE Top-40 index of blue chips slipped 0.9 percent to 25,278.60 points and the broader All-share index shed 0.76 percent at 27,929.22 points.

"It's actually a bit of a surprise because the data coming out of the States, we were feeling, didn't look that bad," said Investec Securities trader Roy Lamb.
"The market's obviously leaning on the JP(Morgan Chase & Co) number which was ahead of consensus on the earnings front but revenue was way behind. I think that's what they're (investors) concerned about. That's set the tone unfortunately."

JPMorgan Chase & Co reported deep losses on mortgage and credit card loans in the fourth quarter on Friday, dashing hopes that consumer credit is on the mend, while a survey showed U.S. consumer sentiment held steady in early January.

The JSE financial index closed 0.5 percent lower with banking group Absa down 1.30 percent at 129.30 rand, Investec Plc lost 3.11 percent at 53.50 rand and insurer Old Mutual dropped 3.07 percent at 13.27 rand.

Most South African mining stocks were lower, with Anglo Platinum falling 4.04 percent to 772 rand and gold miner Harmony dipping 3.32 percent to 75.60 rand as the gold price dropped.

Gainers on the bourse included property firm Growthpoint, up 1.43 percent at 14.15 rand and Liberty Holdings climbed 2.60 percent t0 67.20 rand.