* Rand rallies as Lonmin workers accept offer
* Strong demand for the short-end of the yield curve
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 18 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand
rebounded on Tuesday against the U.S. dollar while
shorter-dated bond yields dipped after Lonmin workers said they
have accepted a 22 percent pay rise to end a strike that shook
Africa’s largest economy.
The six-week strike at Lonmin’s Marikana
mine led to 45 deaths in the labour strife, spread to other
operations in the platinum belt that shut operations and raised
questions among investors about ineffective political
leadership.
The rand firmed 1.17 percent at 8.166 against the
greenback at 1553 GMT.
The currency was little moved from Monday’s New York close
of 8.27 until news broke from Marikana that Lonmin workers had
accepted the offer and would return to work on Thursday.
“The rand had weakened quite aggressively on news stories
about the mine problem. Now that they have accepted the offer,
that is positive,” Jim Bryson, a rand trader Rand Merchant Bank.
Bonds had also been hit in the past two days by negative
sentiment around labour strife in the crucial mining sector,
driving yields to 2-month highs.
The yield on the three year bond fell 7.0 basis to
5.43 percent but the 14-year paper slid just half a
basis point to 7.525 percent.
“There was a bit of demand following the market sort of
cheapening things up yesterday,” said a bond dealer in
Johannesburg.
Investors will pay close attention to August inflation
figures on Wednesday ahead of the monetary policy setting
meeting the following day. Nearly 30 economists polled by
Reuters expect the repo rate to remain unchanged at 5.0 percent.
(Reporting by Vuyani Ndaba; Editing by Jon Herskovitz, Ron
Askew)
© Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
