South African bonds were weaker on Friday morning while the rand was steady, although at weaker levels. The rand, which bonds usually follow, has been under pressure after its rally against the dollar ran out of steam. The rand closed 1.73% weaker against the dollar on Thursday, with the greenback advancing on the optimism that the US Senate will push through the tax reform plan. Advances in the dollar are also due to a last-minute deal that was struck to lift the US debt ceiling. Markets look forward to US nonfarm payroll data later in the day, as it will set the tone for what the US Federal Reserve’s next move with interest rates will be. TreasuryOne dealer Andre Botha said any reasonable payroll number was likely to send the dollar stronger because momentum is in the greenback’s favour. The yield on the benchmark R186 government bond was bid at 9.265% from 9.230%, while the R207 was bid at 8.125% from 8.085%. At 9.01am the rand was at R13.7304 from Thursday’s R13.7339.
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