The South African rand slips today as the fundamentals, including the Korean conflict and China’s plans to curb its economic growth, weren’t favorable to the riskier currencies.

The stocks and the higher-yielding currencies fall as the tension on the Korean peninsula increases and China may take measure to slow its rapidly growing inflation. The rand dropped versus the US dollar as the US President Barack Obama extended the tax cuts, resulting in the optimism for the US economy.

USD/ZAR traded at about 6.939 as of 12:23 GMT today after it opened at 6.917 and reached the intraday high of 6.985.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the South African Rand, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.