JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's stocks were indicated firmer in early trade on Thursday, extending strong overnight gains after global stocks turned positive, but worries about domestic and global growth may continue to weigh on markets. Wall Street jumped more than 3 percent and Asian shares edged up, with investors snapping up beaten down shares, which should give the Johannesburg bourse a lift, particularly after three straight days of heavy losses. By 0643 GMT ahead of the market opening at 0700 GMT, South Africa's blue chip Top-40 March futures contract was up 1.78 percent. Jitters remain, though, and safe-haven trades like the Japanese yen and the dollar, stayed firm. The rand has come under pressure over the past year from global risk aversion, particularly given the country's large current account deficit, and trends have largely been driven by world stocks and the dollar. It was last trading at 9.9480 against the dollar, 0.3 percent firmer than its previous close in New York. Traders and analysts said the currency was likely to keep to recent ranges and again follow global developments with no major local data due during the session. "It started getting stronger during the (Johannesburg) session yesterday, possibly on export dollar selling into the market but overnight you saw the big move made. The recovery on Wall Street gave emerging markets a lift," Russell Lamberti, economist at market analysts ETM, said. Investors were likely to watch for European industrial data and U.S. housing and jobs numbers. South African government bonds added to Wednesday's rally, sparked by weak retail sales data that backed calls for a big interest rate cut next month. The yield, which moves inversely to the price, on the benchmark 2015 bond was down 4 basis points at 7.565 percent from the previous day's close, while the 2036 yield fell 2 basis points to 7.595 percent. | 
