Rand Bounces Back as US-Iran Talks Ease Tensions

The South African rand strengthened against the US dollar at the start of the week as easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and a weaker US dollar helped markets recover from last week's volatility.

After briefly weakening to R16.98 against the US dollar on Friday, the local currency recovered to around R16.70 on Monday morning.

Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop said the sell off was largely driven by markets unwinding expectations of a rate increase.

Bishop noted that the decline in the US dollar had also helped stabilise the rand, with the US dollar index declining from 100.69 on Thursday last week to 91.44 on Monday.