The rand was hovering close to a three-month low on Thursday after being hit by a double-whammy of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of new and better tariffs and the passing of a contentious price range vote that has threatened the ruling coalition’s future.
At 10.11am, the rand traded at R18.90/US$, not removed from its earlier shut. It hit R19.01/$ earlier within the day, its weakest since mid-January.
On Wednesday, Trump introduced a ten% baseline tariff on all imports to the US, and better duties on dozens of nations, together with South Africa, which was hit with a 30% charge.
Trump stated the tariffs have been a response to duties and different non-tariff obstacles placed on US items.
South Africa’s parliament had earlier handed the price range’s fiscal framework on Wednesday after weeks of political wrangling, however the second greatest get together within the coalition, the business-friendly Democratic Alliance, voted towards the measure and stated it might problem the end result in court docket.
The rand progressively weakened over the course of the day on Wednesday as markets fears grew that the DA could probably exit the coalition, and went into freefall after the tariff announcement. It slipped as a lot as 2.6% towards the greenback.
On the inventory market, the High-40 index was down about 2.5%.
Learn: Rand could possibly be headed increased if coverage reforms stick
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 authorities bond was weaker in early offers, with the yield up 7.5 foundation factors to 9.39%. — Sfundo Parakozov and Bhargav Acharya, (c) 2025 Reuters
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