Zambia local bonds draw record demand
US stocks inked fresh records on Monday as investors piled into tech and consumer discretionary names as treasury yields receded following Jackson Hole. The NASDAQ led gains, up 0.90%, while the S&P rose 0.43%, a 53rd record close for the year; the DOW closed 0.16% in the red however. 10Y treasury yields closed 3bps lower at 1.2785%.
Asian markets were mostly higher on Tuesday even as concerns continued over rising COVID cases in Japan; the NIKKEI managed to recover from an early stutter however to close 1.08% higher. Elsewhere, the HANG SENG was trading 0.74% late in the session while the ASX closed 0.41% higher. The CSI was weighed down by some less-than-stellar data to trade 0.37% lower towards the close of the session; services PMI fell to 47.5 in August dragging down the overall composite PMI to 48.9.
Brazilian economists upped their inflation forecasts yet again in the latest BCB weekly survey. The end-2021 estimate was raised to 7.27% from last week’s 7.11% while the end-2022 figure was upped slightly to 3.95% from 3.93% last week. GDP growth for 2021 was cut to 5.22% from 5.27% last week as well. The real closed weaker at 5.1851 to the dollar while BRAZIL 30s were little changed, trading about 3.78%.
The market’s bullish mood for Zambia continues unabated with investor participation in the latest domestic bond auction at record highs. The $157-million equivalent auction on Friday saw 5x oversubscription for the 5Y notes at a yield of 25%. A 21% appreciation in the kwacha versus the dollar since President Hichilema’s election victory has made the currency the best performer globally.