South African rand hovers around strongest in three years as geopolitical tensions ease

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The South African rand was hovering around its strongest against the dollar for three years, as geopolitical tensions and safe-haven demand eased after U.S. President Donald Trump backed down from new tariff threats and ruled out the use of force to obtain Greenland.

At 1344 GMT on Thursday the rand traded at 16.21 against the dollar ZAR=D3, about 0.3% stronger than Wednesday's close and at about its highest level since August 2022.

At the start of the week, Trump's escalating stand-off with European countries sent gold to new highs and helped drive South Africa's rand to the 3-1/2-year high of approximately 16.29 per dollar, said Umkhulu Treasury in a note.

Like other risk-sensitive currencies, the rand often takes cues from global drivers such as U.S. policy and has gained roughly 2% against the dollar since the beginning of 2026.

The greenback =USD last traded down 0.2% against a basket of currencies.

"The ongoing rotation out of U.S. assets into gold will ensure that the USD is hamstrung and that commodity currencies such as the rand do well," ETM Analytics said in a research note.

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index .JTOPI was last up 0.8%, tracking most emerging market equities which traded around record highs on Thursday.

South Africa's benchmark 2035 government bond ZAR2035= also firmed, with the yield falling 6.5 basis points to 8.255%.