Rand bears the brunt of volatility after US and UK tighten interest rates

The rand lived up to its status as the barometer of sentiment towards riskier assets, leading losses among emerging markets and slumping more than 4% as investors struggle to digest the outcome of key central bank policy meetings this week.

The biggest one of them, the US Federal Reserve (Fed), on Wednesday served up a 50 basis point (bps) increase in the benchmark rate as the central bank battles inflation at more than 40-year highs. An initial relief rally, which indicated some investors had been expecting a more aggressive hike of 75 bps, boosted stocks and pushed the rand up more than 2% on Wednesday…