The rand retraced some of its losses against the dollar as the week began after Middle East turbulence and rising oil prices pushed the counter to R19.34/$ on Friday. On Monday night, the local currency was trading at R19.16.
But market experts saw it as a short-term move with the US economy and SA's election more likely to determine the currency's direction in the month ahead.
"We expect the local unit to remain under pressure ahead of 2024 national elections amid diminishing commodity prices, tight monetary policy in the US and heightened geopolitical uncertainty," said Jee-A van der Linde, senior economist at Oxford Economics.