• USD/ZAR ticked lower as improved fiscal discipline, contained inflation, and rising precious-metal prices underpinned the rand.
• Silver has surged more than 151% year-to-date, marking its strongest year on record as supply shortages and robust industrial and investor demand fuel gains.
• Palladium edged up 0.1% to $1,612.25 an ounce, but was up more than 78% for the year, marking its best performance in 15 years..
• 2025 was also the first full year under South Africa's coalition government and was marked by disputes over the national budget and concerns over sweeping U.S. tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
• South Africa’s rand ended 2025 nearly 13% stronger against the U.S. dollar, marking its biggest annual gain in 16 years as the greenback weakened broadly.
•On the data front, South Africa recorded a trade surplus of 37.73 billion rand ($2.28 billion) in November, revenue service figures showed on Wednesday.
• Immediate resistance is located at 16.678(Daily high), any close above will push the pair towards 16.773(38.2%fib).
• Strong support is seen at 16.529 (23.6%fib) and break below could take the pair towards 16.407(Lower BB)
Recommendation: Good to sell 16.630 with stop loss of 16.800 and target price of 16.400
