The rand stabilised on Wednesday morning, a day after dropping by the most against the dollar since October, signalling that foreigners were trimming their exposure to South African assets. The rand’s moves were mostly due to the resurgent dollar, which has recently been a destabilising force in emerging-market space. The strength in the greenback came as the yield on the benchmark US 10-year yield touched 3.09% for the first time since the middle of 2011, implying that more interest rates could be on the cards. Standard Bank trader Warrick Butler said in an e-mailed note that investors who were "heavily positioned" in emerging markets were starting to feel the strain of interest rate compression as a result of big moves in US bond rates. The rand plummeted more than 2% against the dollar on Tuesday, as the Turkish lira hit a new low. The lira was also reacting to domestic concerns. Markets were also keeping a close watch on oil prices, which hovered at the multi-year highs, fuellin...
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