Johannesburg - The South African bond market was firmer in
midday trade on Friday despite a poor inflation-linked bonds (ILB) auction at
11am when only R515m was bid for the R800m on offer compared with R690m last
week. The Treasury allotted R100m of I2025 bonds‚ R95m of I2038 bonds and R150m
of I2050 bonds.
“The ILB auction was disappointing. I guess people are just
tired after two weeks of volatility‚” a local bond trader said.
At 11:55am‚ the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 5.360%
from 5.410% at Thursday’s close and 5.380% at Wednesday’s close. The R207 was
bid at 6.555% and offered at 6.545% from its previous close of 6.600%‚ and the
R186 was trading at 7.690% from 7.745% at its previous close.
The rand was bid at R8.6429 from Thursday’s close of R8.6631 and Wednesday’s close of R8.7328.