* Potential for 7.90’s/dlr in few days
* Focus on CPI, retail sales and rates verdict
* Bonds steady to firm, decent demand at auction
By Phumza Macanda
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 17 (Reuters) – South African
government bonds traded steady to firmer on Tuesday after a
weekly debt auction suggested a Fitch downgrade of South
Africa’s credit outlook had not damaged demand for local debt.
The rand also firmed against the dollar after strong growth
data in China and better-than-expected German economic sentiment
boosted global appetite for riskier assets.
The rand was off a one-month highs of 7.9928 hit earlier, as
importers saw those gains as an opportunity to buy the dollar.
It traded at 8.05 against the dollar at 1555 GMT, 0.6 percent
firmer than Monday’s New York close of 8.1050
Yields on the 2015 bond were unchanged from the
previous close at 6.77 percent while the longer-dated 2026 note
fell two basis points to 8.525 percent.
“We saw a strong risk-on theme initiated by good growth data
out of China but there’s retracement in the risk this afternoon
with the euro coming down to the 1.27’s,” said Duncan Howes,
trader at Absa Capital.
Continued…
