Johannesburg - South African bonds were softer in midday trade on Monday due to a weaker rand. Dealers said trading was very quiet because of the holidays in the UK and US. “There is nothing to move the market today‚ so now the market is waiting for tomorrow’s economic growth data‚” a local bond trader said.
At 11:41 the benchmark R186 was trading at 7.055% from 7.040% at Friday’s close and 7.070% at Thursday’s close.
The R157 was bid at 5.240% and offered at 5.220% from 5.215% at its previous close‚ and the R207 was bid at 6.170% and offered at 6.140% from 6.140% at its previous close.
The rand was bid at R9.5988/$ from Friday’s close of R9.5697.
Statistics SA will release the first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) figures at 11:30 on Tuesday.
GDP growth is likely to have moderated to 1.9% quarter on quarter seasonally adjusted annualised in the first quarter of this year from 2.1% in the fourth quarter of last year‚ according to a poll of leading economists by I-Net Bridge.