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Johannesburg - South African bonds remained firm but were off the day's best levels in late trade on Monday.
A local trader said the strong rand and offshore demand had boosted the local market.
By 15:45, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 7.550% from 7.575% at the previous close. The R207 was bid at 8.355% and offered at 8.325% from 8.370%. The R186 was trading at 8.560% and offered at 8.530% from its previous close of 8.590%.
The rand was bid at 6.7353 to the dollar from its previous close of 6.6963.
Earlier, a local trader said: "We saw buying first thing this morning - not on big volumes, but it managed to pull the market lower. The rand has also strengthened, so both of these have helped bonds. Foreigners still look like they're buying; local funds have been selling - but all in all not massive volumes. A lot of stop losses have been hit over the past two days and that has also contributed to the pull-down, it will be interesting to see how the auction goes tomorrow."
The main focus this week will be the all-important SA Reserve Bank's (Sarb) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, which gets underway on Tuesday, with the decision on interest rates due on Thursday afternoon.
The repo rate is expected to remain unchanged when the MPC announces its rates decision on May 12, according to a survey of nine leading economists by I-Net Bridge.
The rate was cut by 50 basis points to 5.5% in November 2010. This was the lowest reading in almost 30 years and resulted in a real interest rate of about 1%.
Foreigners were net buyers of R1.647bn of South African bonds including repo transactions on Friday after net purchases of R1.529bn of local bonds on Thursday, Bond Exchange of South Africa statistics show.
Nominal cumulative volume was R60.115bn on Friday from R75.077bn on Thursday.
Foreigners were net buyers of R1.954bn of South African bonds excluding repo transactions on Friday after net purchases of R1.529bn of local bonds on Thursday.
For the year to date, foreigners have been net buyers of R13.289bn worth of local bonds, excluding repo transactions. In 2010 foreigners bought net R57.064bn worth of local bonds, excluding repo transactions.
For the year to date for total transactions, including repo transactions, foreigners have been net buyers of R5.925bn of local bonds. In 2010 they bought net R44.541bn worth of bonds.
A local trader said the strong rand and offshore demand had boosted the local market.
By 15:45, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 7.550% from 7.575% at the previous close. The R207 was bid at 8.355% and offered at 8.325% from 8.370%. The R186 was trading at 8.560% and offered at 8.530% from its previous close of 8.590%.
The rand was bid at 6.7353 to the dollar from its previous close of 6.6963.
Earlier, a local trader said: "We saw buying first thing this morning - not on big volumes, but it managed to pull the market lower. The rand has also strengthened, so both of these have helped bonds. Foreigners still look like they're buying; local funds have been selling - but all in all not massive volumes. A lot of stop losses have been hit over the past two days and that has also contributed to the pull-down, it will be interesting to see how the auction goes tomorrow."
The main focus this week will be the all-important SA Reserve Bank's (Sarb) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, which gets underway on Tuesday, with the decision on interest rates due on Thursday afternoon.
The repo rate is expected to remain unchanged when the MPC announces its rates decision on May 12, according to a survey of nine leading economists by I-Net Bridge.
The rate was cut by 50 basis points to 5.5% in November 2010. This was the lowest reading in almost 30 years and resulted in a real interest rate of about 1%.
Foreigners were net buyers of R1.647bn of South African bonds including repo transactions on Friday after net purchases of R1.529bn of local bonds on Thursday, Bond Exchange of South Africa statistics show.
Nominal cumulative volume was R60.115bn on Friday from R75.077bn on Thursday.
Foreigners were net buyers of R1.954bn of South African bonds excluding repo transactions on Friday after net purchases of R1.529bn of local bonds on Thursday.
For the year to date, foreigners have been net buyers of R13.289bn worth of local bonds, excluding repo transactions. In 2010 foreigners bought net R57.064bn worth of local bonds, excluding repo transactions.
For the year to date for total transactions, including repo transactions, foreigners have been net buyers of R5.925bn of local bonds. In 2010 they bought net R44.541bn worth of bonds.
