Johannesburg - South African bond yields were marginally weaker on
a little profit taking on Thursday but remain strong on the whole on the back
of foreign demand. A strong rand added a little spark in the afternoon,
pulling yields off their worst levels.
By 16:16 the benchmark R157 bond was at 7.320% after closing at 7.290% on Wednesday. The
benchmark R207 was at 8.010 from 7.945%, while the R186 was at 7.990% from
7.995%.
The rand was bid at R7.2264 to the dollar from R7.2630 at its previous close.
"Yields on SA bonds opened marginally higher (weaker) this morning, as the currency pulled
back from yesterday's level," said Nedbank Capital.
However, on the whole yields have remained competitive - foreign demand based on the carry
trade is the major driving force for present low (strong) bond rates.
A
feature of the afternoon session was that bonds tracked the rand off its worst levels of
the day and some gains were even seen at the long end of the bond market.
Foreigners were net sellers of R1.626bn of South African bonds including repo
transactions on Wednesday after net purchases of R1.968bn of local
bonds on Tuesday, Bond Exchange of South Africa statistics show.
Nominal cumulative volume was R57.603bn on Wednesday from R165.564bn on Tuesday.
Foreigners were net sellers of R1.320bn of South African bonds excluding repo
transactions on Wednesday after net purchases of R2.317bn of local
bonds on Tuesday.
In
the year to date foreigners have been net buyers of R59.751bn worth of local bonds,
excluding repo transactions.
So far
for total transactions, including repo transactions, foreigners have been net buyers
of R51.048bn worth of bonds.
In 2009
foreigners were net buyers of R27.755bn worth of local bonds, excluding repo
transactions, while for total transactions, including repo transactions,
foreigners were net sellers of R2.424bn worth of bonds.