South Africa’s rand slipped: Asian stocks follow Wall Street higher

Reuters: South Africa’s rand slipped against the dollar on Wednesday as a drop in domestic inflation did little to prop up the currency ahead of an interest rate decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve. By 1512 GMT, the rand was trading at 19.0350 against the dollar, about 0.5% weaker than its previous close. Headline consumer inflation fell to 5.5% year-on-year in November from 5.9% in October, data from the statistics agency showed, a slightly bigger fall than the 5.6% predicted by analysts polled by Reuters. Jason Tuvey, deputy chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said inflation was expected to hover around its current rates until the middle of next year. “While officials at the Reserve Bank will take comfort…