The rand traded at R12.35 to the dollar at 8.45am on Thursday‚ strengthening from R12.40 at 7.30am.
The local currency was at R14.86 per euro and R16.71 a pound.
The rand managed to hold on to Wednesday’s gains despite the dollar rising in tandem with oil.
The Brent crude price was up 0.3% to $68.14 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was up 0.4% to $62.11 a barrel. Political protests in Iran raised concern about supply disruptions.
The dollar also strengthened following the release of the US Federal Reserve’s December red book — the minutes of its monetary policy committee meeting on December 13‚ when the upper ceiling of the central bank’s interest rate was raised to 1.5% from 1.25%.
The minutes were described as “more hawkish than anticipated”‚ indicating that the Fed may continue raising interest rates in 2018.