* Rand rangebound, eyes on Greece
* Bonds sell off, yields rise
* State of Nation address on Thursday
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 8 (Reuters) – South Africa’s
government bonds fell further on Wednesday while the rand
steadied despite reports the government is considering a mining
wealth fund that could be used to cap the currency’s gains, and
as markets awaited news of a new Greek bailout.
Bond yields rose for a third day, with the 2015 bond yield
rising five basis points to 6.58 percent and that on the 2026
issue up 6.5 basis points to 8.32 percent, as
profit-taking following strong gains last week was extended.
“The market went too far at the end of January and beginning
of February so this is just a bit of correction,” said Ian
Scott, a bond dealer at Stanlib.
“We’ve had a good retracement and it will now be
rand-dependent and also what comes out of Greece.”
The rand was stuck in a familiar narrow range as dealers
waited for news on a fresh 130 billion euro bailout needed to
prevent a chaotic debt default by Greece next month.
Market reaction was muted to a report that the ruling
African National Congress is considering using proceeds of a
proposed mining tax to build a sovereign wealth fund to
intervene in the currency market.
Continued…
