Johannesburg - Bonds were a touch softer by midday on Friday, tracking a steady rand. A trader said volumes were extremely thin. The bond market closed at 12:00 because of the World Cup kickoff.
By 12:06 the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 6.760% after closing at 6.730% on Thursday and the medium-term R157 was at 7.990% from 7.980% at its previous close. The long-term R186 was at 8.965% from 8.920% previously.
The rand was bid at R7.6762 to the dollar from R7.6862 at its previous close.
Not much activity occurred on the markets as the Fifa 2010 World Cup tournament gets underway at 14:00 with the opening ceremony and then the first match starts at 16:00.
"Volumes were extremely thin and bonds drifted into slightly weaker territory, there was absolutely nothing going on," said a dealer.
The South African Reserve Bank on Friday allotted R3.825bn of 3-month Treasury Bills at an average discount rate of 6.53% from 6.55% the week before.
The Bank allotted R1.075bn worth of 6-month Treasury Bills at an average discount rate of 6.50% from 6.52% and R875m worth of 9-month Treasury Bills at an average discount rate of 6.50% from 6.55% the week before. The Bank allotted R475m worth of 12-month Treasury Bills at a rate of 6.40% from 6.44% the week before.
Foreigners were net buyers of R1.461bn of South African bonds including repo transactions on Thursday, after net purchases of R572.342m of local bonds on Wednesday, Bond Exchange of South Africa statistics show.
Nominal cumulative volume was R41.303bn on Thursday from R39.017bn on Wednesday.
Foreigners were net buyers of R1.457bn of South African bonds excluding repo transactions on Thursday, after net purchases of R640.663m of local bonds on Wednesday.
In the year to date foreigners have been net buyers of R35.601bn worth of local bonds, excluding repo transactions.
So far for total transactions, including repo transactions, foreigners have been net buyers of R32.207bn worth of bonds.
In 2009 foreigners were net buyers of R27.755bn worth of local bonds, excluding repo transactions, while for total transactions, including repo transactions, foreigners were net sellers of R2.424bn worth of bonds.
