Rand gains on Tuesday

The rand gained against a weaker dollar in early trade on Tuesday, ahead of local manufacturing data due later in the day.

At 09:55, the rand traded at R18.52 against the dollar.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against six rivals, was down about 0.2% following strong gains the previous day.

South Africa’s net foreign reserves rose to $55.229 billion in March from $54.084 billion in February, data showed on Tuesday.

Manufacturing output for February will give further clues about the health of the economy, which has been crippled by severe power cuts.

Analysts polled by Reuters have predicted a 2.15% drop in annual terms and a 0.9% month-on-month decline.

On the stock market, the Top 40 index and the broader all-share index were up about 1% in early trade.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker in early deals, the yield up 5 basis points to 9.880%.