The South African rand edged lower in early trade on Wednesday, as the dollar bounced back ahead of the release of U.S. Federal Reserve minutes of its last policy meeting.

At 0620 GMT, the rand traded at 15.6925 against the dollar, down around 0.3% from its previous close.

The dollar index fell more than 1% over the first two days of this week as traders positioned for a slightly less aggressive path of Federal Reserve rate hikes, but it was more than 0.2% stronger early on Wednesday.

The minutes of the Fed's last rate-setting meeting will provide further clues about the policy outlook, when they are released later in the day.

South Africa's central bank is due to release a financial stability report around 1200 GMT, but there are no major domestic data releases due.

The government's benchmark 2030 bond was little changed in early deals, with the yield at 9.73%.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Rashmi Aich)