Johannesburg - The South African bond market was firmer on Monday morning due to the continued surge in foreign interest in local bonds.
“Foreign buying was the story of last week and remains the dominant theme in the local rates market. Not even a weaker rand on Friday could shake the positive sentiment that has been created in South African bonds‚” RMB said in a note on Monday.
At 08:22 the benchmark R186 was trading at 7.580% from Friday’s close of 7.600%. The R157 was bid at 5.450% and offered at 5.430% from its previous close of 5.450%. The R207 was bid at 6.435% and offered at 6.405%‚ from its previous close of 6.430%.
The rand was bid at R8.6787/$ from Friday’s close of R8.6935.
“Local clients continue to have demand for ILBs (inflation-linked bonds)‚ with some foreign profit-taking on Friday. Expect a subdued start to the week‚ with the US holiday today‚ but the whole week is quiet in terms of local data releases as well so we may see a glimpse of what December markets may be like‚” RMB said.