South Korean government bonds rose on Monday when a large Treasury bond sale attracted strong interest from pension funds and other institutional investors. The Finance Ministry sold all the planned 2.83 trillion won ($2.12 billion) in 5-year treasury bonds at an average rate of 4.55 percent early on the day, well below Fridays close of 4.60 percent.
The auction drew 4.87 trillion won in bids. "Despite the sizable bond sale, supply concerns didnt hit the market. On the contrary, the very fact that the new issues were about two times oversubscribed gave a boost," said Kim Dong-whan, a fixed-income analyst at HI Investment & Securities.
"Debt investors now have to look ahead at the upcoming economic data. We may see more data confirming the view that the economy is near a bottom and the positive mood in the debt market could be reversed soon."
With factory output rising for a second month in February and business confidence back to near pre-crisis levels in March, the central bank kept rates on hold for a second month last Thursday and assessed the economic slowdown had moderated significantly. The yield on benchmark 5-year Treasury bonds fell 5 basis points to 4.55 percent while the yield on 3-year Treasury bonds remained steady at Fridays close of 3.88 percent. June Treasury bond futures rose 13 ticks to 110.40.