The rand looked set to continue its downward spiral against major currencies on Friday morning and as likely to set fresh record lows against them.

The currency market has not reacted well to the move by President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday night to dismiss Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister.

Mr Nene has been replaced by the relatively unknown‚ David van Rooyen.

At 8.22am‚ the rand was at R15.4600 against the dollar from a previous close of R15.4743. The record low currently stands at R15.4839.

Against the euro the rand was at R16.9177 from R16.9301 previously. The local unit traded as weak as R16.9485 against the euro on Wednesday.

The rand was at R23.4063 against the pound from R23.4605. It could break the current record low of R23.4751 on the day.

The euro was at $1.0943 from a previous close of $1.0941.

Moves on the day will largely be dependent on investor sentiment.

Next week is likely be difficult as well with the Federal open market committee due to announce its decision on US interest rates.