South Africa's rand raced to its firmest in more than 15 months against the dollar on Tuesday, helped by improved risk appetite and jobs data suggesting the economy is improving. Stocks were weaker, with the main bourse dragged lower by miner Kumba Iron Ore after the company said it was still not in a position to pay shareholders a dividend despite seeing a doubling in earnings. By 1140 GMT the rand had gained 1.63 percent to 13.1225 per dollar, its strongest since Oct. 23, 2015 according to Thomson Reuters data, after closing at 13.3400 overnight in New York.

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