The bond market remained on a firm footing in late afternoon trade on Friday, with yields steady on the firmer rand trend. Analysts said continued strength in the bond market was dependent on a further rand rally, after the local currency hit an 18-month high of R12.80/$ earlier in the week. At 3.43pm the benchmark R186 was bid at 8.69% from a previous close of 8.66%. The R207 was bid at 7.755% from 7.725%. The rand was at R12.9078 against the dollar from R12.8684. "The overall technical structure for the rand continues to be resilient and should short-term dollar weakness emerge, it is likely to be immediately converted into further strength for the rand," analysts at Momentum SP Reid said. Bonds benefited from the clear fiscal consolidation stance by government in Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s budget speech on Wednesday. Ratings agencies were likely to take comfort from this fact, said Momentum Investments analyst Herman van Papendorp. "Continued commitment to fiscal consolida...
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