The South African rand gained against a weaker dollar in early trade on Friday, as investors remained optimistic about a potential US-Iran peace deal despite renewed hostilities.

The United States and Iran exchanged fire on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire, but Iran said the situation returned to normal while the US said it did not want to escalate.

At 0733 GMT, the rand traded at 16.4425 against the dollar, about 0.4% stronger than its previous close.

The greenback last traded weaker against a basket of currencies.

Traders awaited the monthly US employment report due later in the day to assess future monetary policy path.

South Africa's net foreign reserves rose to $73.76-billion at the end of April from $73.19-billion in March, central bank data showed on Friday.

Nedbank economists had projected the country's international liquidity position to rise by a modest $73.57-billion, supported by lower receipts of foreign deposits.

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Top-40 index was last down 1.5%.

South Africa's benchmark 2035 government bond was also weaker in early deals, as the yield rose 7.5 basis points to 8.65%.