South Africa's rand weakened on Monday, with global risk appetite dented by a weekend attack on Saudi Arabian refining facilities that hit global oil supplies and saw prices spike.
At 1535 GMT, the rand was down 0.22% at 14.6125 per dollar, having hit a session low of 14.7125.
The rand, along with other emerging market assets, last week benefited from increased risk appetite after Washington and Beijing officials made concessions on retaliatory tariffs.
The European Central Bank's (ECB) decision to cut interest rates and its promise of more stimulus also lent support.
Bonds also weakened, with the yield on the benchmark instrument due in 2026 adding 1 basis points to 8.225%.
On the bourse, stocks strengthened, with the Johannesburg All-share index up 1.3% to 57,854 points, while the benchmark Top-40 index rose 1.3% to 51,802 points.
Leading the blue chips was petrochemicals firm Sasol, which gained nearly 10% to 306.00 rand on rising oil prices.
Financials were also in the black, with the banking index up 3.7%, just shy of a two-month high. Nedbank rose 5.3% to 251.24 rand and FirstRand gained 4.6% to 67.75 rand, while Absa gained 3% to 170.15 rand and Standard Bank ticked up 2.9% to 193.30 rand.
However, the risk-on mood soured after an attack on Saudi Arabian refining facilities, leading investors to seek out safe-haven assets like the Japanese yen and Swiss franc.
Oil prices surged nearly a fifth following the strikes, which knocked out more than 5% of global oil production. The currencies of major oil importers, such as the rand and Turkey's lira, weakened.
"South Africa is an oil importer and the surge in the oil price is negative for the country, particularly from an inflation point of view, if it is sustained," said Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop.
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