JOHANNESBURG, April 17 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand
rallied 1.5 percent against the dollar on Tuesday and bond
yields dropped more than 20 basis points after Citigroup
announced South African government bonds were eligible to be
included its World Government Bond Index.
The rand was 1.4 percent firmer at 7.8215 against
the dollar at 1137 GMT, off a 7.93 close in New York on Monday.
The yield on the 2026 benchmark government bond
was down 26 basis points to 8.175 percent, while that on the
2015 issue fell 21 basis points to 6.505 percent.
“The market’s rallied hard since that announcement. We’ve
basically done 20 basis points on the R157s on the back of that.
Offshore guys are placing a form of premium as such on local
bonds,” said one local bond dealer.
(Reporting by Xola Potelwa; Editing by Ed Cropley)
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