* Rand and bonds lifted by G20-IMF commitment
* Foreign bond buying interest boosts local assets
* Currency seen breaching 7.80 again in the next session
JOHANNESBURG, April 20 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand and
bonds ended the week firmer on Friday as positive sentiment got
a lift from the Group of 20’s commitment to help fight the euro
zone’s debt problems, completing a strong week for local assets.
The Group of 20 nations stood ready to commit at least $400
billion to bulk up the International Monetary Fund to ensure it
has enough firepower to respond if Europe’s debt crisis
escalated.
The rand was trading at 7.802, 0.7 percent firmer
against the U.S dollar at 1615 GMT from New York’s close of
7.8556. It was performing best compared to 20 emerging market
currencies tracked by Reuters.
Improved sentiment from robust demand at a Spanish bond
auction on Thursday also filtered into Friday.
“I think the market rebounded on the back of the positive
Spanish auction we saw yesterday,” said Brigid Taylor, h ead of
institutional sales a t Nedbank.
Even though Spanish government bond yields are on the rise,
investors buying into 2.5 billion euros ($3.29 billion) of bonds
offered at Thursday’s auction was taken as a good sign.
Continued…
