JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s commodity-backed currency was steady on Thursday, supported by higher gold prices as investors fled to the safe-haven metal after steep tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump took effect.
At 1527 GMT the rand traded at 17.7850 against the dollar, a whisker away from Wednesday’s close.
U.S. imports from South Africa face a 30% duty, the highest rate among Sub-Saharan African countries. Despite the government’s failure to negotiate a better deal, the rand was resilient, helped partly by South Africa’s status as a major producer of precious metals.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said on Thursday that he held a telephone call with Trump on bilateral trade and that the two countries’ trade negotiating teams will have more detailed talks.
The dollar last traded flat against a basket of currencies.
“In the short term, the ZAR will take advantage of the souring USD sentiment with the USD-ZAR trading back below the 17.8000 mark and will likely appreciate further, especially if SA’s terms of trade remain positive and partially help offset any of the trade impact that will surely arise in the coming months,” said ETM Analytics in a note.
South Africa’s central bank reported on Thursday that net foreign reserves fell to $65.143 billion at the end of July from $65.216 billion in June.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top-40 index was up 0.6% boosted partially by gold miners.
Gold rose to a more than two-week high on Thursday.
South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond was slightly stronger, with the yield down 1.5 basis points at 9.66%.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov; Editing by Alex Richardson, Kirsten Donovan)
