Johannesburg - South African government bonds are expected
to hold firm on Tuesday, with yields close to historic lows, and the rand is
seen stronger against the dollar, backed by a weak greenback globally.
Investors piled into the bond market in the previous
session, pushing the benchmark 13-year paper's yield down to six-month lows.
The yield was down 0.8 basis points to 7.100% at 06:55 GMT,
while the three-year bond gained 0.2 basis points to 5.315%.
"Sentiment is looking relatively rosy and there's all
likelihood of continued demand for government bonds in the short term,"
said Steve Arnold, a bond trader at Investec.
Demand at a primary auction on Tuesday is also expected to
be high. The Treasury is scheduled to auction over R2bn in government bonds.
The rand was marginally weaker by 06:42 GMT, down 0.32% to
R8.7240.
"Although we still expect the rand to underperform
relative to its emerging market and commodity-based currency peers in the near
term due to ongoing domestic labour tensions, we also believe that the rand
could manage to recoup some lost ground if the dollar continues to
weaken," Absa Capital said in a note.
The dollar is on the back foot globally because risk-taking
investors around the world are becoming bolder.
However, labour unrest in South Africa's farming and mining
sectors are weighing on the local currency as both gold and platinum producers
say they have to let thousands of jobs go.
Mining data expected on Tuesday is expected to show a slight
improvement from the 7.7% decline in output reported in October.
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