JOHANNESBURG, Jan 23 (Reuters) – The South African rand slipped on Friday but hovered near the 16-per-dollar level as traders looked ahead to next week’s interest rate decision for signals on the central bank’s policy stance.<\/p>\n
At 1449 GMT, the rand traded at 16.1825 per dollar \u202f, roughly down 0.3% on Thursday’s close but still near its strongest level since June 2022.<\/p>\n
Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n The currency has been supported by record-high gold prices, improved fiscal indicators, a credible central bank and sustained dollar weakness, said Citadel Global director Bianca Botes in a note.<\/p>\n The risk-sensitive rand, which often tracks major global drivers such as U.S. policy, has gained more than 2% against the dollar since the start of 2026.<\/p>\n “A test of 16.00 per dollar appears plausible, should gold hold above $4,800 an ounce and dollar weakness persist,” Botes said.<\/p>\n The dollar\u202f was last flat against a basket of currencies, while gold inched toward another record high of $5,000 an ounce, supported by geopolitical uncertainty.<\/p>\n Botes cautioned that South Africa’s weak growth outlook, uncertainty over its continued inclusion in the African Growth and Opportunity Act, reliance on a potentially overvalued gold price and the rand’s inherent volatility all suggest the currency’s recent gains may prove fragile.<\/p>\n The South African Reserve Bank will deliver its monetary policy decision next week, after cutting its main lending rate by 25 basis points in November.<\/p>\n On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index\u202f(.JTOPI), opens new tab<\/a> was up 0.7%.<\/p>\n South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond\u202f firmed, with the yield falling 9 basis points to 8.165%.<\/p>\n Reporting by Anathi Madubela, Kopano Gumbi and Sfundo Parakozov; Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n
\nEditing by Ronojoy Mazumdar and Vijay Kishore<\/p>\n