Johannesburg - The rand moved sharply firmer on Tuesday after the German ZEW investor
sentiment index came in better than expected, as well as news that
Citigroup may include SA government bonds in its World Government Bond
Index (WGBI) in October.
"This is a positive for local assets and one that Treasury will welcome warmly against the backdrop of SA's credit rating being under negative outlook by the three major global rating agencies," Barclays said on Tuesday.
News from Citigroup earlier on Tuesday that SA government bonds were entering a monitoring period for inclusion in the index, saw the rand and local bonds rally significantly, with the currency appreciating 16 cents to 7.82/dollar since the announcement and the bond curve strengthening 21 basis points in the benchmark R157, 25 basis points in the R186 and 27 basis points at the very long end.
At 16:27 local time the rand was bid at R7.8164 to the dollar from its previous close of R7.9368 and Friday's close of R7.9366. It was bid at R10.2590 to the euro from R10.4184 before, and at R12.4421 against sterling from R12.6110 previously.
"This is a positive for local assets and one that Treasury will welcome warmly against the backdrop of SA's credit rating being under negative outlook by the three major global rating agencies," Barclays said on Tuesday.
News from Citigroup earlier on Tuesday that SA government bonds were entering a monitoring period for inclusion in the index, saw the rand and local bonds rally significantly, with the currency appreciating 16 cents to 7.82/dollar since the announcement and the bond curve strengthening 21 basis points in the benchmark R157, 25 basis points in the R186 and 27 basis points at the very long end.
At 16:27 local time the rand was bid at R7.8164 to the dollar from its previous close of R7.9368 and Friday's close of R7.9366. It was bid at R10.2590 to the euro from R10.4184 before, and at R12.4421 against sterling from R12.6110 previously.