* Government bonds weaken alongside U.S Treasuries
* Rand steady
JOHANNESBURG, March 15 (Reuters) – South African
government bonds extended their losses on Thursday with yields
jumping to almost 3 three-month highs in tandem with U.S.
Treasuries, which were weighed by the Fed’s acknowledgement of
some improvement in America’s economy.
The yield on the 2015 bond climbed seven basis to
6.91 percent and on the longer dated paper up six basis points
to 8.515 percent, extending Wednesday’s losses when yields
spiked by as much as 17 basis points.
“It’s obviously on the back of the U.S. ten-year bond, which
is up quite a bit,” said a local Johannesburg bond dealer.
The two-year U.S Treasury note yield hit its highest since
July, lessening the attraction of using the dollar to
fund carry trades.
Traders also alluded to a local corporate securitisation
issue which could have also pushed yields up on Wednesday.
No local data is expected to spur the market, though bond
dealers will watch the U.S. Treasury January international
capital flows report, which summarises how the bond market has
been playing out.
The rand was trading at 7.6904 against the
greenback at 0620 GMT, little changed from than Wednesday’s New
York close of 7.6975.
Stocks opened higher, with the JSE’s blue-chip Top-40
up 0.3 percent shortly after the 0700 GMT start of
trade.
(Reporting by Vuyani Ndaba, editing by Ed Stoddard)
© Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
