South African government bonds were marginally firmer on Friday afternoon, ahead of ratings agency Moody’s credit-rating announcement expected later in the evening.Most analysts believe recent political developments and government promises of fiscal consolidation should be sufficient to prevent Moody’s from rating SA’s local currency debt as subinvestment grade.The rand gained in response, firming to R11.7631 to the dollar from R11.8493.At 3.01pm the R186 was bid at 7.99% from 8% and the R207 at 6.68% from 6.69%.Global bond trading was subdued after the sharp fall in US equity markets on Thursday amid concern about a growing global trade war between China and the US. Investors seek out the yen and gold in times of economic and political uncertainty, while bond yields tend to fall as prices rise in safe-haven trade.Yields on the 10-year US treasury fell to 2.820% on Friday from 2.832% late Thursday in New York, following their biggest daily decline since September, Dow Jones Newswire...
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