The rand fared slightly better on Tuesday morning‚ but remained at the mercy of the dollar‚ which has recently stood tall against other currencies.
The local currency bought a single dollar at R13.74‚ bouncing back from intraday lows of R13.86 seen on Monday.
Brown Brothers Harriman analysts said in a note that US Federal Reserve policy held the key to unlocking further gains in the dollar.
“Over the past few weeks‚ the markets have come to accept the likelihood of a December Fed hike. US interest rates have adjusted.”
As the dollar gathered strength over the past few weeks‚ the rand has weakened‚ potentially closing the window for the Reserve Bank to cut rates before the end of the year.
A little more than a month ago‚ the rand changed hands to the dollar at R12.74 before weakening to its current levels.
The weaker rand stokes inflation‚ which the local central bank monitors when deciding on rates.
At 9.33am‚ the rand was at R13.7359 to the dollar from R13.8161‚ at R16.1636 to the euro from R16.2331 and at R18.0884 to the pound from R18.1615.
The euro was at $1.1767 from $1.1749.
by Andries Mahlangu -BusinessLIVE