1516 GMT - The South African rand's recent fluctuation reflects the volatility in gold prices, Commerzbank's Volkmar Baur says in a note. The dollar-rand exchange rate has showed an almost perfect correlation with the price of gold over the past three months, he says. "This is driven by the fact that gold, platinum and palladium are important exports for South Africa, recently accounting for around 20% of exports and rising significantly faster than exports overall when calculated in rand." However, the underlying driver for a stronger rand remains structural improvements in South Africa and these are continuing regardless of gold prices, he says. The dollar falls 1.5% to 16.0550 rand as gold prices rise. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 06, 2026 10:17 ET (15:17 GMT)

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