adminJohannesburg. — South Africa’s rand strengthened as foreign investors bought the country’s debt for a second day after the longest streak of bond outflows on record. “Foreign investments are arriving to rebuild sold-off positions,” John Cairns, a currency strategist at Johannesburg-based FirstRand Ltd’s Rand Merchant Bank unit, said in an e-mailed note to clients.
“There have been two days of good bond buying.”
Foreign investors bought a net two billion rand in the two days through yesterday, snapping a 13-day outflow, data from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange shows.
A report from the statistics agency may show South African manufacturing production grew for the first time on a monthly basis since July, according to the median estimate of eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The currency slid 18 percent this year, making it the worst performer among 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
Yields on rand-denominated government debt due 2023 rose two basis points, or 0,02 percentage point, to 8,01 percent after falling 12 basis points yesterday.
Foreigners have sold a net 3,1 billion rand of debt this month after net outflows of 14,83 billion rand in November, according to Johannesburg Stock Exchange data. — Bloomberg
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