The bond market was flat, like the rand, on Thursday at lunchtime as the market digested the budget speech Finance Minster Pravin Gordhan delivered on Wednesday. Rand Merchant Bank analyst Gordon Kerr said while there were not many "fireworks" in the budget (in keeping with the medium-term budget policy statement projections), the general feeling among the analyst community was that it was neutral to positive, especially for the ratings agencies. This led to yields finishing the day lower. The bond market started the day firmer and bond yields were expected to fall, testing the 8.50% level. The political risk around a cabinet reshuffle was the only "red herring that could derail the move", said Kerr. At 11.33am the bid on the R186 was at 8.70% from Wednesdays 8.75% and that of the R207 was 7.765% from 7.835% The rand was at R12.9709 from R12.9751
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