South Africa's rand headed for its fifth day of losses on Thursday, as the dollar continued to benefit from Donald Trump's U.S. election win.

At 1127 GMT, the rand traded at 18.37 against the dollar , about 0.7% weaker than its previous close.

"It's not only the rand that has found itself in free fall, but all emerging markets," Rand Merchant Bank analysts said in a research note.

"This sell off is by no means negative sentiment in South Africa but rather a very buoyant dollar," the note added.

The rand has lost more than 5% against the greenback since the U.S. election last week, with investors expecting Trump's policies to bring higher short-term economic growth and also potentially inflationary pressures.

An improvement in South African mining output in September did little to support the rand on Thursday. The output rose 4.7% year on year in September from 0.3% in August, Statistics South Africa data showed.

On the Johannesburg stock market, the blue-chip Top-40 index traded 0.3% down.

South Africa's benchmark 2030 government bond was flat, with the yield at 9.165%.

(Reporting by Tannur Anders; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)