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Johannesburg - South African bonds were firmer in midday trade on Wednesday, buoyed by local and foreign buying.
By 11:50 the benchmark R157 bond was bid at 7.160 from 7.225% at its close on Monday. The benchmark R207 was bid at 7.870% from 7.920%, while the R186 was bid at 7.960% from 8.025%.
The rand was bid at R7.3402 to the dollar from R7.3700 at its previous close.
"Bonds are mainly firmer as a result of some local and foreign interest. The currency is also stronger, and this has had an effect too," said a local trader.
The seasonally adjusted Kagiso Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased by 0.8 index points in August to 50.3, after five months of being below the 50 index point mark.
The PMI measures activity in the manufacturing sector and a reading of 50 and above is the barometer for when the sector is growing.
The index was at 49.5 in July and 48.4 in June.
"The rise above the critical 50 mark followed two consecutive months where the PMI suggested that the manufacturing sector was contracting," said Theo Vorster from Kagiso Securities.
The PMI reached a peak of 60.4 in February.
Also on Wednesday, the Treasury announced it will auction R1.1bn worth of R203 bonds and R1.0bn worth of R207 bonds at its
weekly auction on September 7.
Foreigners were net buyers of R1.686bn of South African bonds including repo transactions on Tuesday after net sales of R16.566m of local bonds on Monday, Bond Exchange of South Africa statistics show.
Nominal cumulative volume was R41.605bn on Tuesday from R10.984bn on Monday.
Foreigners were net buyers of R2.364bn of South African bonds excluding repo transactions on Tuesday after net sales of R122.929m of local bonds on Monday.
In the year to date foreigners have been net buyers of R69.108bn worth of local bonds, excluding repo transactions.
So far for total transactions, including repo transactions, foreigners have been net buyers of R61.833bn 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.