THE rand slipped back towards the R14/$ handle on Tuesday morning as the dollar strengthened on the expectation that the Federal Reserve will hike US rates in December."I still favour the rand to strengthen into the end of the year as the hunger for yield intensifies but I am also certainly not married to that notion either," Standard Bank trader Warrick Butler said."If the dollar manages to push its head above R14.40/$, then I will walk away from my long-term view that the rand should trade to somewhere with a $12 handle on it over the next six to nine months."Commodity prices were relatively stronger in early trade despite the strong dollar, with Brent crude holding at $53 a barrel and platinum picking up 0.61% to $965.88/oz.At 9.03am, the rand was at R13.9217 to the dollar from Monday’s R13.8116. It was at R15.4828 to the euro from R15.3829 and R17.1123 to the pound from R17.0718.The euro was at $1.1122 from $1.1129 previously.
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