The rand has rallied this week, spurred by hopes for the government of national unity and a spate of positive economic data. Winter may be upon us, but tentative economic green shoots are emerging.

One key indicator of confidence, or lack thereof, in the South African economy is the rand's performance, and it has been on a roll this week.

The currency ended last week on the back foot, flirting with 19.0/dlr, amid an uncertain outlook of the talks to form a government in the wake of the 29 May election which saw the ANC's haul of the ballots plunge by 17 percentage points to 40%.

After starting this week at 18.97/dlr, the rand regained lost ground throughout the week and was fetching 18.36/dlr on Thursday afternoon, although later in the day it gave up some gains. It is currently trading at 18.53/dlr.

Having broken through key technical levels, RMB Global Markets Research said in a note that more gains to 18.26/dlr were on the horizon based on what analysts call "momentum signals" in the charts.

"Headlines covering developments around the SA government of national unity (GNU) remain a directional catalyst, and in this regard, the IFP's commitment to supporting the GNU which included the ANC and the DA provided a supportive undertone," the note said.

The rand has also been underpinned by some refreshing economic data which suggests the economy is at least...