JOHANNESBURG: The yield spread between the 2026 and 2015 government bonds was narrower on Wednesday from this week's record high as longer dated bonds gained support after the Finance Ministry said it will not issue more such debt to fund a widening budget deficit.
The rand weakened for a second day to trade above 8 to the dollar as emerging markets came under pressure ahead of a European Union summit to try and resolve the euro debt crisis.
"Mirroring the global moves, USD/ZAR shot up to 8.0 but fixed income stayed quite resilient ... somewhat protected by the Medium Term Budget Statement of Tuesday," said Gabor Ambrus of 4Cast Limited.
The yield gap between the benchmark R186 and R157 bonds was 8 basis points less on Wednesday from a record high of 175 basis points, hit on Monday as the market braced for the government to say it would issue more long-dated paper to cover a budget hole.
The Treasury instead announced it would finance the wider than expected deficit by drawing on existing cash balances and switching maturing bonds into longer-dated paper, and did not plan to increase the overall supply of debt.
The news helped reverse a sell-off in bonds that had particularly depressed the long end of the curve, with the spread holding at its narrower level on Wednesday even as other emerging market assets were sold off.
The rand hit the day's low of 8.0140 in the last hour of trade as dealers sold risky assets in anticipation that results of the EU meeting would disappoint.
By 1600 GMT the rand was 0.85 percent weaker as 7.9980 to the dollar, off Tuesday's close of 7.9275.
Further losses up to the 8.10 area are seen on the rand during the New York and Asian sessions, mostly because analysts do not expect the EU meeting to produce a comprehensive solution to the euro zone debt crisis.
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