The rand enjoyed the sweet taste of a position below 10 to the dollar for the first time since October 14 during late trade on Wednesday.

A senior currency dealer said that a lot now depended on what the Federal Reserve decides later this evening, as if they did not cut rates, the rand could move back towards the 10.50/$ mark.

But the flipside did usher in the hope of some more gains and sought-after stability.

"All emerging markets have come back strongly and as long as we do nothing silly, then there is no reason we can't see some stability and even reach 9.50/$," said the dealer.

The rand was last at 9.9013 to the dollar from a previous close of 10.2191. Its worst so far today was 10.4350 – indicating the high levels of volatility still in play – and reached a best of 9.8700 in late afternoon trade.

After breaching ten to the dollar on October 15, the currency went up all the way to a closing 11.5781 on October 22 – levels last seen in 2002 – before undergoing a volatile ride down the slope to today's breach of ten once more.

On December 20 2001, the rand had struck a closing worst of 13.7175 to the dollar.

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