{"id":39073,"date":"2026-07-08T11:23:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T09:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=39073"},"modified":"2026-07-08T11:23:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T09:23:36","slug":"rand-steady-as-markets-assess-renewed-middle-east-tensions","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/rand-steady-as-markets-assess-renewed-middle-east-tensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Rand steady as markets assess renewed Middle East tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>The South African (SA) Rand was steady in early trade on Wednesday as investors assessed renewed Middle East tensions, weighing higher gold \u200bprices against a firmer Dollar and rising oil prices.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The Rand traded at 16.32 against the Dollar, little changed from its previous close.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Iran&#8217;s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted United States (US) military sites in \u200bBahrain and Kuwait after Washington launched a wave of military \u200bstrikes on Iran in response to attacks on tankers in \u2060the Strait of Hormuz.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The US Dollar held around its highest level \u200bin a week in Asian trade, while oil prices rose more than 2% \u200bafter the US military carried out airstrikes on Iran and reimposed sanctions on its crude sales, fuelling concerns that a fragile truce could be unravelling \u200band disrupting Middle East oil supplies.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Gold, a key SA \u200bexport, edged higher from a near one-week low as investors awaited the minutes \u200cof \u2060the Federal Reserve&#8217;s June meeting, with renewed inflation concerns from fresh US, Iran strikes capping gains in the precious metal.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;While the Rand has been resilient in recent weeks, its near-term direction is likely \u200bto remain closely \u200btied to \u2060developments in the Middle East and tonight&#8217;s Fed minutes,&#8221; said Andre Cilliers, Currency Strategist at TreasuryONE.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Like \u200bother risk-sensitive currencies, the Rand is often driven by \u200bshifts \u2060in global market sentiment, particularly since the start of the US, Iran conflict on February 28.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was down \u200babout 1% in early trade.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>SA&#8217;s \u200bbenchmark 2035 government bond was weaker in early deals, with the yield up 10 \u200bbasis points to 8.33%.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14374,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-39073","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"SA Rand was steady in early trade on Wednesday","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39074,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39073\/revisions\/39074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=39073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}