USD/ZAR: the US dollar against the South African rand

• USD
• ZAR

What USD/ZAR is

USD/ZAR shows the price of one US dollar in South African rand. The US dollar is the base currency, the currency you buy or sell. The rand is the quote currency, the currency the price is shown in. Traders also call the pair "dollar rand". On MetaTrader the symbol is usually written USDZAR.

USD/ZAR is an exotic pair. That means it combines a major currency with the currency of an emerging market. Compared with pairs such as EUR/USD, exotic pairs usually have:

• lower liquidity
• wider spreads
• larger swaps
• sharper moves on news

For more on how pairs are grouped, see majors, minors and exotics.

How to read the quote

A rising USD/ZAR price means the dollar is buying more rand, so the rand is weakening. A falling price means the rand is strengthening.

You always see two prices:

• Bid: the price you sell at.
• Ask: the price you buy at.

The gap between them is the spread, a cost you pay on every trade.

Pip size and pip value per lot

A pip is the standard step used to measure price changes. A lot is the standard trade size. On Exness the smallest trade is 0.01 lot.

Pip value is calculated like this:

• Pip value in rand = pip size × contract size × number of lots.
• Pip value in your account currency: if your account is in US dollars, divide the rand amount by the current USD/ZAR rate.

Because the rand side changes with the rate, the dollar value of one pip also changes as the price moves. Check the pip size, the number of digits and the contract size in the symbol specification in your platform. Then use the calculator below.

What tends to move USD/ZAR

The US dollar side

• Fed policy. Interest rate decisions by the US Federal Reserve, its statements and the "dot plot" all matter. The dot plot is the chart of Fed members' rate projections.
• US jobs data (NFP). NFP is the monthly non-farm payrolls report. It often causes fast moves across dollar pairs.
• US CPI. CPI measures inflation and feeds into expectations about Fed rates.
• Treasury yields. Higher US yields tend to support the dollar against emerging-market currencies.

The South African rand side

• SARB policy. Decisions by the South African Reserve Bank, and the gap between South African and US interest rates.
• Gold and platinum prices. South Africa is a major producer, so metal prices affect export income and sentiment towards the rand. See metals trading.
• Power supply. News about electricity supply and power cuts affects views on growth.
• Fiscal news. Budget announcements, government debt and credit rating decisions.

Risk appetite

The rand is often treated as a "risk" currency. When global markets turn cautious, money tends to leave emerging markets and USD/ZAR often rises. When appetite for risk improves, the move often reverses. This can override local news.

Learn how to read these factors in fundamental analysis. To see how USD/ZAR can move together with related pairs such as EUR/ZAR, see pair correlations.

Sessions, liquidity and spreads

Liquidity is usually best when Johannesburg and London are open together, and when New York is also open. Late in the US session and during the Asian session, fewer participants trade USD/ZAR. Spreads often widen at those times, especially around the daily rollover.

Spreads also widen around major data releases. Exness applies higher margin requirements (HMR) to orders opened from 15 minutes before to 90 seconds after high-impact news. For forex, leverage during HMR is 1:200 (0.5%).

Weekend gap risk. The market closes for the weekend. If news breaks while it is closed, the price can open well away from Friday's close. Stop-loss orders may then fill at a worse price than you set.

USD/ZAR on Exness: what the sourced facts say

Exness's swap-free information names USDZAR among the instruments covered by swap-free status, which indicates the pair is listed. Always confirm the symbol and its full specification in your platform before trading.

What the sources cover:

• Swaps. A swap is the overnight financing charge or credit. By default, by default all accounts are swap-free on listed instruments; the status can be lost. Exness assigns swap-free status automatically to clients registered from these countries: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkiye, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan. Details are on swap fees and Islamic finance.
• Leverage. Leverage lets you open a position larger than your deposit. Unlimited leverage applies to Forex majors and minors, DXY, USDCNH, HKDJPY, USDHKD, USDTHB; all commodities except XAUUSD247; BTCUSD, BTCUSDT, ETHUSD, ETHBTC. USDZAR is not named in that list, so check the leverage shown for the symbol in your platform.
• Margin levels. Exness margin call and stop-out levels by account are: Standard Cent: margin call 60%, stop out 0%; Standard: margin call 60%, stop out 0%; Pro: margin call 30%, stop out 0%; Raw Spread: margin call 30%, stop out 0%; Zero: margin call 30%, stop out 0%. A margin call is a warning that your margin is running low. A stop out is when positions are closed automatically.
• Negative balance protection. If a stop out would leave a negative balance, the balance reset to 0 after stop out.

The spread, contract size, swap rates, trading hours and maximum volume for USDZAR are not covered by our sources. Check them in the symbol specification in MetaTrader or in the Exness personal area. Account differences are explained on account types.

To estimate the margin needed for a given lot size and leverage, use this calculator:

Forecasts and risk

We do not publish USD/ZAR forecasts, price levels or trade ideas. Pages promising a "usdzar forecast" cannot know future news, and the rand can move sharply on a single headline.

Leveraged CFD and forex trading can lose money fast. With an exotic pair, wider spreads and price gaps add to that risk. Read risk management before you trade, and consider practising on a demo account first.

Traders in Pakistan should also know the local rules:

• Per the SBP, remitting foreign exchange to overseas forex/margin/CFD platforms is not allowed through any payment channel (FERA s.5(1)).
• Per the SECP, offshore forex/CFD platforms operate without regulatory approval in Pakistan.

See law and regulators for more.

Frequently asked questions

What does USD/ZAR mean?

It is the price of one US dollar in South African rand. Traders often call it "dollar rand".

Is USD/ZAR a major pair?

No. It is an exotic pair. Spreads and swaps are usually higher than on majors, and price moves can be sharper.

How do I find the pip value of USD/ZAR?

Multiply the pip size by the contract size and your lot size to get the value in rand. Then convert it to your account currency at the current rate. The pip calculator on this page does this for you.

Is USDZAR swap-free on Exness?

Exness's swap-free information names USDZAR, and swap-free status can be lost through your trading activity. Check your status in the personal area.

Where can I see the USDZAR spread on Exness?

In the symbol specification in your platform or in the personal area. Our sources do not state it.

Do you give a USD/ZAR forecast?

No. We explain what moves the pair. We do not predict prices or suggest trades.