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Johannesburg - South African bonds were up to four points weaker in quiet midday play on Thursday.
At 11:50, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 6.645% from its previous close of 6.600%. The R207 was trading at 7.780% from a previous close of 7.735% and the R186 was trading at 8.265% from its close of 8.230%.
The rand was bid at 7.4554 against the dollar from its previous close of 7.4716.
"We're a bit weaker - initially I would have said it was the currency, but the rand has come back a bit and we haven't followed it. I have seen that the correlation between the rand and the R157s has broken down in the last couple of weeks - I'm not sure why," said a local bond trader.
"It looks as though the market is not really sure of where things should be going.
"Yesterday the rand rallied by 10 cents and bonds only reacted by 2 points, so on the whole the market is not really sure of what is driving it, and it's looking for some sort of news to direct it," he concluded.
The seasonally adjusted Kagiso Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) posted strong gains in February, rising by 4.7 index points to 57.9 - the highest level since February 2010.
The PMI, conducted on a monthly basis by the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, is a key leading indicator for activity in the manufacturing sector.
An index level of below 50 represents contraction in the manufacturing sector, while a reading of more than 50 signifies expansion. The index rose to 53.2 in January after declining to 49.4 in December from 51.6 in November.
Earlier, RMB analysts said the general pattern of strong foreign buying at auctions and then a quiet market afterwards looked set to continue in the near term.
Foreigners were net sellers of R201.296m of South African bonds including repo transactions on Wednesday after net sales of R235.792 million of local bonds on Tuesday, data released by the JSE shows.
Nominal cumulative volume was R57.038bn on Wednesday from R221.804bn on Tuesday.
Foreigners were net sellers of R165.775m of South African bonds excluding repo transactions on Wednesday after net sales of R160.230m of local bonds on Tuesday.
For the year to date foreigners have been net buyers of R12.754bn of local bonds, excluding repo transactions. In 2011 they were net buyers of R47.359bn worth of local bonds, excluding repo transactions.
In the year to date foreigners have been net buyers of R11.252bn of local bonds including repo transactions. In 2011 they bought R37.501bn of local bonds.
At 11:50, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 6.645% from its previous close of 6.600%. The R207 was trading at 7.780% from a previous close of 7.735% and the R186 was trading at 8.265% from its close of 8.230%.
The rand was bid at 7.4554 against the dollar from its previous close of 7.4716.
"We're a bit weaker - initially I would have said it was the currency, but the rand has come back a bit and we haven't followed it. I have seen that the correlation between the rand and the R157s has broken down in the last couple of weeks - I'm not sure why," said a local bond trader.
"It looks as though the market is not really sure of where things should be going.
"Yesterday the rand rallied by 10 cents and bonds only reacted by 2 points, so on the whole the market is not really sure of what is driving it, and it's looking for some sort of news to direct it," he concluded.
The seasonally adjusted Kagiso Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) posted strong gains in February, rising by 4.7 index points to 57.9 - the highest level since February 2010.
The PMI, conducted on a monthly basis by the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, is a key leading indicator for activity in the manufacturing sector.
An index level of below 50 represents contraction in the manufacturing sector, while a reading of more than 50 signifies expansion. The index rose to 53.2 in January after declining to 49.4 in December from 51.6 in November.
Earlier, RMB analysts said the general pattern of strong foreign buying at auctions and then a quiet market afterwards looked set to continue in the near term.
Foreigners were net sellers of R201.296m of South African bonds including repo transactions on Wednesday after net sales of R235.792 million of local bonds on Tuesday, data released by the JSE shows.
Nominal cumulative volume was R57.038bn on Wednesday from R221.804bn on Tuesday.
Foreigners were net sellers of R165.775m of South African bonds excluding repo transactions on Wednesday after net sales of R160.230m of local bonds on Tuesday.
For the year to date foreigners have been net buyers of R12.754bn of local bonds, excluding repo transactions. In 2011 they were net buyers of R47.359bn worth of local bonds, excluding repo transactions.
In the year to date foreigners have been net buyers of R11.252bn of local bonds including repo transactions. In 2011 they bought R37.501bn of local bonds.
