South Africa's rand fell to its weakest level in more than two years against the U.S. dollar on Monday, breaching the 15.00 mark as turmoil in Turkey turned investors against emerging market currencies.
The rand's depreciation, which took it to around 15.30 against the dollar, reflected weakness in the Turkish lira in the wake of sanctions imposed by the United States, which also affected other emerging market currencies such as Argentina's peso.
Investors tend to dump emerging market assets which are perceived as carrying more risk during episodes of geopolitical tensions.
By around 07:40 am the rand had recovered to 14.60 versus the dollar.
- African News Agency (ANA)
