JOHANNESBURG - The South African rand weakened early on Friday after breaching the crucial 14.00 to the dollar mark following a selloff in emerging market currencies.
Escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, the breakup of the US-North Korea summit without a deal and fading optimism over a US-China trade deal had all put the rand and other emerging market currencies under pressure on Thursday as investors opted for safe-havens like the dollar and Japanese yen.
At 0700 GMT the rand was 0.18% weaker at 14.1150 per dollar after weakening below the psychologically important 14 to the dollar market overnight. “The most prominent contributor to the renewed risk-aversion is the tension between India and Pakistan that reached critical levels during the course of the week,” said Bianca Botes, an analyst at Peregrine Treasury.
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