The rand was on a slippery slope again in mid-morning trade on Wednesday, after briefly strengthening through R14 to the dollar for the first time in just more than two weeks. The retreat in the rand coincides with the rebound in the dollar, which has traded fairly erratically in recent sessions. The Turkish lira was also much weaker in early trade, after a relative calm over the past week — potentially contributing to the drop in the value of the rand. The weaker rand has the potential to fuel inflation, which could force the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates at a time when the local economy is punching below its weight. "We’d caution against becoming too optimistic for a sustained recovery in risk sentiment with emerging markets’ FX volatility, as measured by JP Morgan, at a nine-year high relative to G7 currencies," said Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana, analyst at Rand Merchant Bank. "Even though concerns over possible contagion from Turkey have eased, there is simply far too much even...
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