Johannesburg - South African bonds were mixed in quiet late trade on Monday, with little in the way of action to give the market direction as it bides time ahead of key local data due this week.
Tuesday sees the release of the fourth-quarter 2010 GDP by Stats SA, while finance minister Pravin Gordhan will deliver his Budget speech in Parliament on Wednesday. Stats SA will also release producer price inflation (PPI) on Thursday.
By 15:50, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 7.550% from its previous close of 7.680%, while the R207 was at 8.435% from its previous close of 8.400%. The R186 was bid at 8.665% from 8.620%.
The rand was bid at 7.1285 to the dollar from its previous close of 7.1197.
"The longer-dated area is slightly weaker after some selling. All in all, it's been a quiet day, with many players sitting on the sidelines ahead of Budget," said a local trader.
Another trader said volumes were "very low".
Standard Bank said that, with last year's fourth-quarter GDP and the Budget, there would be plenty for the interest rate markets to digest over the coming days.
"Trading is likely to be subdued before these releases, as risk is kept off the books. Today is set to be particularly quiet, with President's Day being celebrated in the US," it said.
Foreigners were net sellers of R403.544m of South African bonds including repo transactions on Friday after net purchases of R1.239bn of local bonds on Thursday, Bond Exchange of South Africa statistics show.
Nominal cumulative volume was R64.824bn on Friday from R65.005bn on Thursday.
Foreigners were net sellers of R403.377m of South African bonds excluding repo transactions on Friday after net purchases of R1.240bn of local bonds on Thursday.
For the year to date, foreigners have been net sellers of R7.680bn 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 sellers of R3.907bn of local bonds. In 2010 they bought net R44.541bn worth of bonds.
