USD/ZAR falls 0.5% as investors wait for tariff clarity

The South African Rand gained ground against a broadly weaker US Dollar on Monday, as market players awaited more clarity on the upcoming round of US tariffs.

According to a Bloomberg News report, US President Trump is likely to exclude a set of sector-specific tariffs, while imposing reciprocal levies on April 2nd.

“I would imagine that markets will remain anxious and sensitive to any news that comes out regarding Trump tariffs ahead of that April 2nd announcement, so I expect some market jitters certainly this week,” Jane Foley, head of Forex strategy at Rabobank, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The South African Reserve Bank left its repo rate without change at 7.5% at its March meeting amid uncertainty over global trade coupled with a deadlocked national budget.

The USD/ZAR currency pair was last losing 0.52% on the day to trade at 18.1163.

The South African Rand has remained in proximity to a 13-week high of 17.9984 per dollar.