Rand touches R15/$ for the second time in a week
This has made the rand the worst-performing currency among emerging-market currencies over a five-day period
The rand briefly weakened through the symbolic R15 to the dollar level just before lunchtime on Friday, stretching its week-to-date declines to just more than 6%. This made it the worst-performing currency among emerging-market currencies over a five-day period. It was not immediately clear what caused the sudden slide in the rand, which weakened as much as 2% against the dollar and substantially against the euro and pound, before pulling back slightly. The Turkish lira also reversed course to trade just more than 4% weaker against the dollar, showing fluidity in financial markets. The sharp decline in the value of the rand echoed the data compiled by Institute of International Finance (IIF), showing that SA and China in particular felt the acute pain of the recent sell-off in emerging markets. SA accounted for $600m of the $1.3bn that investors have pulled from emerging markets since last Friday, according to the Washington-based IIF. The weaker currency has the potential to cancel...
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