The rand fell over 2% in midday trade on Wednesday as the unrest in the mining sector spread to other mines.
At 14.17pm‚ the rand was bid at R8.3200 against the dollar from its close of R8.1711 on Wednesday. It fell 2.12% against the euro to R10.7282 and 1.91% against sterling to R13.3811.
“The fall in the rand is due to one thing and one thing only: it’s the spillover from the unrest in the mining sector onto the other mines. It has moved to AngloPlats‚ being the number one platinum producer‚” said Mark Kalkwarf‚ a senior portfolio manager from Iquad Group.
“The rand traded up to 8.535‚ but it found offers at that level‚” Kalkwarf said.
He said the market had been worried about a possible spillover for some time.
The platinum price increased by 2.75% to US$1‚650.24.
Kalkwarf said this spillover should increase the price of platinum as the metal would be scarcer. - I-Net Bridge