South African bonds were a little stronger on Friday afternoon, despite the rand having softened against major global currencies. The release of US inflation and retail sales in the afternoon could influence the dollar and, in turn, the rand. Local bonds had found some support from foreigners on Friday morning, but with little news on the domestic front, caution was expected to prevail, said Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking analysts. Global bonds came under pressure earlier in the week after reports that China was considering paring back its purchases of US debt. This was, however, subsequently denied by Chinese authorities. At 3pm, the benchmark R186 was bid at 8.58% from 8.6% and the R207 at 7.26% from 7.28%. The rand was at R12.4146 to the dollar from R12.3898.
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