Johannesburg - The rand lost 1.5% against the US dollar in late trade on Friday, falling quickly after Fitch ratings agency revised the country’s outlook to negative from stable.
The rand dropped to R8.1680/$ just after the outlook announcement, which came a few minutes after reports emerged in Europe to suggest some eurozone countries might be downgraded later in the session - hitting risk appetite.
The local unit had closed at R8.05/$ in New York on Thursday.