South Africa's rand hit new record lows on Monday as the prospects of a US rate hike hardened, a development that helped push stocks higher as money flowed into rand hedges such as the gold sector. By 1534 GMT the rand had slipped 1.18 percent to 14.3195 after touching a new record low of 14.3270 as the stronger-than-expected jobs data in the world's biggest economy continued to reverberate through the markets.
The rand, along with its emerging market peers, were still weak against the greenback post US non-farm payroll data released on Friday, showing employers in the United States added 271,000 jobs in October, the most in 10 months. "If you think that 14.20 is expensive hold on to your seats because you're going to see much worse in the coming months for the rand," Bidvest Bank chief dealer Ion de Vleeschauwer. Government bonds were also weaker with the benchmark issue due in 2026 adding 8.5 basis points to 8.595 percent.
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