The South African rand strengthened early Tuesday against a weaker dollar on hopes for less aggressive tariffs from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump when he takes office at the end of the month.
At 0636 GMT, the rand was trading at 18.5650 against the US dollar, about 0.1% firmer than its previous close. The greenback has been trading about 0.1% weaker against a basket of currencies lately.
The Washington Post reported Monday that Mr. Trump’s aides were exploring tariff plans that would represent a significant relaxation of promises he made during his 2024 presidential campaign.
While the news initially weakened the dollar, Mr. Trump’s subsequent denial reversed some of the declines in the American currency.
“This helped support the performance of ZAR which recovered at the start of the first full trading week of the year,” ETM Analytics said in a research note.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was slightly firmer in early trading, with the yield down 2.5 basis points to 9.005%.
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