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Johannesburg - South African bonds were flat in early trade on Tuesday, ahead of key consumer inflation index (CPI) data and the weekly government bond auction.
The National Treasury will auction R1.3bn worth of R208 bonds and R800m worth of R209 bonds at 11:00.
By 08:55, the benchmark R157 bond was unchanged from its previous close of at 7.720%. The R207 was bid at 8.480% and offered at 8.450% from 8.470% and the R186 was flat at 8.695%.
The rand was bid at R6.9787 to the dollar from its previous close of R6.9779.
"It's extremely quiet, we haven't seen one trade, everyone's waiting for the CPI number. Quite a few players have revised their estimates to the top side, but we're still sticking with 4.6%," a local trader said.
"The auction should go well. We saw some demand for the longer-end late yesterday. Volumes will probably be thin though because markets are closed tomorrow," a local trader said.
SA markets are closed Wednesday for voting in the local government elections.
Stats SA will release April CPI at 10:00 and March retail trade sales data at 13:00.
The consumer inflation index - the measure used by the SA Reserve Bank (Sarb) for its inflation target - is expected to tick up to 4.4% year on year (y/y) in April from 4.1% y/y in March, according to a survey of leading economists by I-Net Bridge.
Forecasts among the nine economists ranged from 4.4% to 4.6%.
South African retail trade sales at constant (2008) prices for March are expected to increase to 5.2% year on year (y/y) from the 5.6% seen in February, according to a survey of leading economists by I-Net Bridge.
Forecasts among the seven economists ranged from 4.4% to 6.1%.
Standard Bank analysts said in a morning report that interest rate markets were finding some stability.
"In edgy trading, most SA rates ended Monday around last Friday's closing levels. By and large, this is representative of a combination of uncertainty in macro views and rapidly adjusting positioning," the analysts said.
They added that Tuesday may provide a break to the impasse, with the significant release of April's CPI and March's retail sales numbers.
"Standard Bank's base-case forecasts for these prints are more conducive to further modest consolidation across the curve in the short term, than the converse," they said.
Foreigners were net sellers of R594.737m of South African bonds including repo transactions on Monday after net purchases of R901.634m of local bonds on Friday, Bond Exchange of South Africa statistics show.
Nominal cumulative volume was R144.162bn on Monday from R68.568bn on Friday.
Foreigners were net sellers of R600.557m of South African bonds excluding repo transactions on Friday after net purchases of R899.966m of local bonds on Friday.
For the year to date, foreigners have been net buyers of R19.366bn 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 R11.543bn of local bonds. In 2010 they bought net R44.541bn worth of bonds.
The National Treasury will auction R1.3bn worth of R208 bonds and R800m worth of R209 bonds at 11:00.
By 08:55, the benchmark R157 bond was unchanged from its previous close of at 7.720%. The R207 was bid at 8.480% and offered at 8.450% from 8.470% and the R186 was flat at 8.695%.
The rand was bid at R6.9787 to the dollar from its previous close of R6.9779.
"It's extremely quiet, we haven't seen one trade, everyone's waiting for the CPI number. Quite a few players have revised their estimates to the top side, but we're still sticking with 4.6%," a local trader said.
"The auction should go well. We saw some demand for the longer-end late yesterday. Volumes will probably be thin though because markets are closed tomorrow," a local trader said.
SA markets are closed Wednesday for voting in the local government elections.
Stats SA will release April CPI at 10:00 and March retail trade sales data at 13:00.
The consumer inflation index - the measure used by the SA Reserve Bank (Sarb) for its inflation target - is expected to tick up to 4.4% year on year (y/y) in April from 4.1% y/y in March, according to a survey of leading economists by I-Net Bridge.
Forecasts among the nine economists ranged from 4.4% to 4.6%.
South African retail trade sales at constant (2008) prices for March are expected to increase to 5.2% year on year (y/y) from the 5.6% seen in February, according to a survey of leading economists by I-Net Bridge.
Forecasts among the seven economists ranged from 4.4% to 6.1%.
Standard Bank analysts said in a morning report that interest rate markets were finding some stability.
"In edgy trading, most SA rates ended Monday around last Friday's closing levels. By and large, this is representative of a combination of uncertainty in macro views and rapidly adjusting positioning," the analysts said.
They added that Tuesday may provide a break to the impasse, with the significant release of April's CPI and March's retail sales numbers.
"Standard Bank's base-case forecasts for these prints are more conducive to further modest consolidation across the curve in the short term, than the converse," they said.
Foreigners were net sellers of R594.737m of South African bonds including repo transactions on Monday after net purchases of R901.634m of local bonds on Friday, Bond Exchange of South Africa statistics show.
Nominal cumulative volume was R144.162bn on Monday from R68.568bn on Friday.
Foreigners were net sellers of R600.557m of South African bonds excluding repo transactions on Friday after net purchases of R899.966m of local bonds on Friday.
For the year to date, foreigners have been net buyers of R19.366bn 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 R11.543bn of local bonds. In 2010 they bought net R44.541bn worth of bonds.
