The South African rand weakened in early trade Friday as fears of recession spread around the world following decisions by several central banks to raise interest rates to control inflation.

At 7:05 GMT, the rand was trading at 16.0225 against the dollar, down 0.14% from its previous close.

The dollar was back on a steep rise, galvanized by the prospect of tighter monetary policy in the U.S. At around 12:35 GMT (2:35 p.m. in Paris), the dollar index, which compares the greenback to a basket of other currencies, was up 0.73 percent to 104.58 points. The U.S. currency was up 0.45 percent against the euro at $1.0503 and 0.57 percent against the British pound at $1.2281.

The Dollar Index, which measures the currency against six peers, was up 0.52 percent to 104.42, recovering some of its losses after sliding to a one-week low following the Federal Reserve's rate hike Wednesday.

The Japanese currency, the yen, fell 1.71 percent to 134.51 yen per dollar, nearing its lowest since 1998 at 135.59 yen on Wednesday. The Russian ruble edged higher. At 1225 GMT, the ruble was stronger by 0.3% against the dollar at 56.35 and was up 0.2% against the euro at 58.90, reversing earlier losses.

On the cryptocurrency side, bitcoin was recovering 1.2% to $20,914 after 10 consecutive sessions of decline.