JOHANNESBURG: The South African rand strengthened in early trade on Tuesday against a weaker dollar, as geopolitical tensions eased after the failed mutiny in Russia over the weekend.

At 0703 GMT, the rand traded at 18.5200 against the dollar , about 0.8% stronger than its previous close.

The dollar was trading down 0.2% against a basket of global currencies.

The rand’s gains can be attributed to dollar weakness, lower levels of power cuts and dissipating political concerns, said Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE.

“We did see a small outflow from offshore investors yesterday, but subdued month-end importer demand at this stage has seen the rand recover,” he said.

At 0930 GMT, Statistics South Africa will publish the country’s first-quarter formal sector employment figures, giving more clues as to the health of Africa’s most industrialised economy.

South Africa’s unemployment rose to 32.9% in the first three months of this year from 32.7% in the last quarter of 2022, Statistics South Africa said in May.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was stronger in early deals, with the yield down 7.5 basis points to 10.530%.