Johannesburg - South African bonds were a touch firmer on Friday morning, but a local trader said there was not much on the go yet, but market sentiment was mildly positive.
By 08:50, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 7.500% from its previous close of 7.500%. The R207 was bid at 8.390% and offered at 8.375% from 8.390%, and the R186 was trading at 8.585% from 8.90%.
The rand was bid at R6.7334 against the dollar from its previous close of R6.7605.
"There's nothing on the go - it's still very quiet. Guys have been picking up stock but we're not expecting any major moves ahead of the weekend," the trader added.
On the local data front today is the June Kagiso purchasing managers' index (PMI) - a key leading indicator for activity in the manufacturing sector. The data is not usually market moving.
Foreigners were net buyers of R102.223m of South African bonds including repo transactions on Thursday after net purchases of R830.103m of local bonds on Wednesday, data released by the JSE shows.
Nominal cumulative volume was R45.999bn on Thursday from R53.054bn on Wednesday.
Foreigners were net buyers of R96.963m of South African bonds excluding repo transactions on Thursday after net purchases of R827.274m of local bonds on Wednesday.
For the year to date, foreigners have been net buyers of R34.804bn 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 R25.757bn of local bonds. In 2010 they bought net R44.541bn worth of bonds.
