The price of gold rose to a fresh record high of more than $2 609 on Friday as the prospect of fresh US interest rate cuts boosted demand for the precious metal.

The commodity jumped to as much as $2 609.74 per ounce, two days after the Federal Reserve slashed borrowing costs for the first time since the start of the pandemic and indicated that more cuts were likely.

But the rand slipped on Friday morning after strong gains over the past week. The local currency was trading close to R17.80/$ a week ago, but briefly broke through R17.40/$ on Thursday. On Friday morning, it was trading at R17.57.

"The rand is likely to remain within a R17.40/R17.70 range in the short term as it tracks international moves but we could see further profit-taking, given the rand's recent strong run," Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE, told Reuters. On Friday morning, the JSE's All Share index rose 0.4%.

Wall Street stocks soared to fresh records Thursday as markets cheered the Federal Reserve's move to aggressively cut interest rates to protect the labour market.

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