South Africa rand slumps to record low after Moody’s cut to junk

The currency dropped as much as 2.5% to 18.0863 per dollar, breaching 18 versus the greenback for the first time.

SOUTH Africa’s rand plumbed a record low and bond yields soared after the country lost its last investment-grade credit rating, and investors anticipated it may slide deeper into junk as the spread of the coronavirus decimates the economy.

The currency dropped as much as 2.5% to 18.0863 per dollar, breaching 18 versus the greenback for the first time. It traded 2.1% down at 17.9953 by 8:32 a.m. in Johannesburg, still the worst performance among emerging-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg. Yields on 10-year government bonds climbed 61 basis points to 12.31%.