Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the US presidential race fuelled fresh uncertainty in world markets on Monday.
After last weekend’s assassination attempt on Donald Trump – and the following Republican convention – boosted bets he would win November’s election, investors were trying to work out the ramifications of the latest news out of the White House.
Biden on Sunday gave in to weeks of calls for him to step aside in the wake of a poor debate performance that amplified questions about his health, and endorsed vice-president Kamala Harris to succeed him.
The news has left traders wondering who will go head to head with Trump, whose expected victory had lifted equities and the dollar on expectations for tax cuts and deregulation.
Analysts said markets would likely be volatile in the near term.
Rand vs major currencies
The table below depicts the rand exchange rate against five other major currencies following the news.
They are the dollar (US dollar), pound, euro, Australian dollar (A$) and New Zealand dollar (NZ$).
| Dollar | R18.28/$ |
| Pound | R23.63/£ |
| Euro | R19.91/€ |
| Australian dollar | R12.18/A$ |
| New Zealand dollar | R10.96/NZ$ |