JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s rand retreated against a buoyant dollar on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a flurry of policy changes following his Monday inauguration.
At 1532 GMT, the rand traded at 18.5325 against the U.S. dollar, about 0.1% weaker than its previous close. The rand had gained about 1% on Monday ahead of Trump’s swearing in.
The dollar last traded about 0.2% stronger against a basket of currencies.
“I think we need to wait until Trump’s government is fully installed before decisions come on tariffs,” said Adam Phillips, treasury specialist at Umkhulu Treasury.
Like other risk-sensitive currencies, the rand often takes direction from global drivers like U.S. fiscal policy in addition to local factors.
Domestically, South Africa’s mining output fell 0.9% year on year in November compared to a revised increase of 1.1% in October, Statistics South Africa data showed on Tuesday.
Focus on Wednesday will be on South Africa’s December inflation data, with economists polled by Reuters forecasting an annual rate of 3.2%.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Top-40 index closed about 0.2% higher.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was stronger, with the yield down 7.5 basis points to 9.095%.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders and Sfundo Parakozov. Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Mark Potter)
