Baffling rand volatility continues as it goes back to top of the pile

From being among the best to the worst performers — and back again in a space of three days. That’s been the fate of the rand as it spiked in response to conflicting local and international forces, making it one of the hardest currencies for analysts to predict.

“If one could describe the rand’s performance over the past few months in one word, the best fit would be volatile,” said Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM, an online trading firm with clients in about 18 countries.