Rand has biggest drop in three months as new coronavirus fears hit global markets

The rand, often a barometer of investor sentiment towards emerging markets, had its biggest drop in three months on Monday as a surge of new Covid-19 outbreaks in Europe brought the spectre of damaging lockdowns.

By 6pm on Monday, the currency had declined 3.42%, more than wiping out its gains from last week. Financial services companies’ shares dropped with their counterparts overseas, with RMB Holdings falling 6.67% and Nedbank 5.1%. Among companies exposed to tourism, City Lodge lost almost 8% while Tsogo Sun declined 4.7%. The JSE all-share index had its biggest drop since the middle of June and the S&P 500 had fallen 2.37% in afternoon trade.