South African rand falls to 5-day low against US dollar, Tuesday, September 23, 2008 7:30:38 AM

Against the US dollar, the South African rand declined to a 5-day low of 8.2150 at 7:05 am ET Tuesday. If the South African currency drops further, 8.22 is seen as the next target level. The dollar-rand pair closed Monday`s New York deals at 7.9894.

The South Africa`s rand weakened after a government report showed that the nation`s retail sales dropped for a fifth month in July, falling an annual 4.6 percent, after declining a revised 1.5 percent in June.

The CPIX inflation rate rose to 13.6 percent in August from 13 percent in July. Analysts expected inflation of 13.3 percent. Prices rose 0.9 percent in the month.