By JESSICA MEAD The South African rand tumbled to its weakest level in more than four years as the dollar pushed higher across the board Tuesday in the wake of slower-than-expected U.K. April inflation data. An initial decline in sterling against the dollar, after British inflation data, triggered a wave of dollar buying that saw the greenback trade above 9.50rand, its highest level since April 1, 2009. At 0841 GMT, the dollar was trading at 9.5131rand, having climbed as high as 9.5162rand. The rand has been under severe selling pressure so far this month, hit by a combination of a stronger dollar, weaker commodity prices--notably gold--and concerns that a new wave of strikes at South African mines and manufacturers might widen. The South African Reserve Bank also said that its leading indicator of business activity declined 1.1% on the month in March, deeper than the 0.4% monthly drop in February.

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