The South African rand defied expectations that it would stick to a narrow range on Friday, breaking below the psychological R6,00 per dollar level in afternoon trade.
While the rand touched R6,00 per dollar on July 8, it quickly bounced off this level.
At 14.02pm, the rand was quoted at R5,9913 per dollar from an overnight close of R6,1001 on Thursday and R6,0651 on Wednesday.
It was quoted at R7,3874 to the euro from a previous R7,5151 and at R11,12400 against sterling from Thursday’s R11,3240.
The euro was quoted at $1,2351 from $1,2356 late on Friday, while gold was quoted at $404,65 an ounce from a previous 403,85/oz.
The last time the rand was below R6,00 per dollar was October 1999. — I-Net Bridge