South African rand hovers around strongest in three years as geopolitical tensions ease
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The South African rand hovered around a near three-year high against the dollar on Thursday as geopolitical tensions eased and demand for safe-haven assets cooled after U.S. President Donald Trump backed down from fresh tariff threats and ruled out using force to obtain Greenland.
At 1344 GMT, the rand traded at 16.21 per dollar, around 0.3% stronger than Wednesday’s close and close to its highest level since August 2022. The currency has gained roughly 2% against the dollar since the start of 2026, and the dollar was last down about 0.2% against a basket of currencies.
Umkhulu Treasury said earlier in the week that Trump’s escalating standoff with European countries helped push gold to new highs and drove the rand to a roughly 3-1/2-year high of around 16.29 per dollar. Like other risk-sensitive currencies, the rand often takes direction from global drivers such as U.S. policy.
ETM Analytics said rotation out of U.S. assets into gold could weigh on the dollar and support commodity-linked currencies such as the rand. Trump’s Greenland comments were made as he faced a challenging reception at Davos after weeks of rhetoric that had rattled relations with European allies.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was last up 0.8%, in line with gains across emerging-market equities, while South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond also firmed. The bond yield fell 6.5 basis points to 8.255%.
