South African bonds were slightly firmer on Wednesday morning after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates as expected, and said that the policy outlook for next year remained unchanged.The Fed increased interest rates by 25 basis points to between 1.25% and 1.5% and projected three more rate increases in 2018 as it had said in September. But it raised concerns about inflation, which remains low. US consumer price inflation increased to 2.2% in November from 2% in the previous month.Year-on-year, core consumer prices increased by 1.7% from a 1.8% gain in the previous month, missing expectations of 1.8%. Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen said the US economy was doing well and synchronised with the global economy.TreasuryOne dealer Gerard van der Westhuizen said the interest-rate increase was not enough to stop the market from picking up the dovish tone set out by the Fed because investors had expected more hawkish comments. "This decision was on the back of inflation slowing down yea...
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