JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's government bonds fell to their lowest in nearly 22 months on Friday, in a market increasingly seeing the chance that slowing inflation due to sliding oil prices will keep interest rates depressed.
The yield on debt maturing in 2026 -- the benchmark for the secondary market -- fell 12.5 basis points to close at 7.355 percent, a level last seen in late May 2013.
Demand by foreign accounts has driven local bonds higher this week, with next inflows reaching slightly more than 4 billion rand ($345 million), according to data from the JSE securities exchange.
"The major theme for at least the first half of the year will be lower inflation, not just in South Africa, but globally," said Asher Lipson, a fixed income analyst at Standard Bank.
"We believe that the markets may be underestimating how low inflation could go in 2015 and thus the reaction to low inflation prints could still move yields lower."
The rand softened against the dollar, tracking a weaker euro after the Swiss National Bank's shock move this week to scrap the cap on the value of its currency fuelled talk of imminent quantitative easing in Europe.
By 1628 GMT the rand traded 0.29 percent lower at 11.5895 to the greenback compared with Thursday's close in New York.
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