Rand strengthens, touching R16.99 to US dollar

South Africa’s rand strengthened to R16.99 to the US dollar at around 12.24pm on Wednesday, its best level since before the Covid-19 lockdown began in March.

The currency is currently around the R17 range to the dollar.

The rand has improved by more than R2 to the dollar since it breached the R19 level twice in April. At the time some market commentators were predicting that the rand could even breach the R20/US$ level.

The local currency improved by almost 1% over the last day against the greenback, which has weakened in the wake of large-scale protests in the US, following the death of George Floyd while in police custody.

On Tuesday US President Donald Trump threatened to send in the military to end the unrest in dozens of cities across America, which is also now home to the world’s biggest Covid-19 outbreak.

Read: Eastern Cape overtakes Gauteng in confirmed Covid-19 cases

The dollar has also come under pressure as the risk appetite of traders has increased, following the easing of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions globally, according to fxleaders.com.

Meanwhile, the JSE is also up more than 1% following a green market day on Tuesday as well.