The greenback hit its lowest level in more than three-weeks against a basket of currencies after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said tapering could begin this year but that the central bank was in no hurry to raise interest rates.
That boosted market sentiment in the developing world and the risk-sensitive rand has rallied since.
At 1624 GMT, the rand traded at 14.5100 against the dollar, 1.16% stronger than its previous close.
Locally, investors were not moved by economic data that showed South Africa's trade surplus shrunk to 36.96 billion rand ($2.55 billion) in July from a revised surplus of 54.48 billion rand in June as they viewed last month's civil unrest and logistical problems at ports, which disrupted exports, as a once-off.
"The outlook for trade remains favourable on the back of the strong global trade momentum. The effect of the recent protests will likely prove to be temporary as supply chain disruptions have been mostly resolved," said economists Isaac Matshego and Nicky Weimar of Nedbank in a note.
The yield of the benchmark 2030 government bond was flat at 8.775%.
In the equities market, stocks ended the month firmer, with the Johannesburg All-Share index up 0.54%, while the Top-40 index jumped 0.48%, supported by mostly stronger earnings reports.
Among the companies reporting strong results, Old Mutual jumped 5.42% after the insurer swung back to a first-half basic profit and revised its 2023 targets upwards.
Automotive group Motus Holdings closed 2.93% firmer after its annual operating profit climbed 78%.
Johannesburg-listed shares of Dutch technology investment firm Prosus rose 5.26% after it doubled down on its investment in India with a $4.7 billion deal for payments platform BillDesk, making it one of the biggest players in the country's fast-growing fintech sector.
Shares of its market heavy-weight parent Naspers climbed 6.44%.
($1 = 14.4911 rand)
(Reporting by Alexander Winning and Nqobile Dludla; editing by Uttaresh.V and Alistair Bell)
