South African government bonds were firmer on Friday afternoon after the rand firmed to it best level in three weeks against the dollar.The rand reached R12.1803 earlier in the day as the euro clawed back some lost ground against the dollar. This followed the release of steady US inflation data on Thursday, which makes it less likely the US Federal Reserve will hike rates aggressively.The Fed’s pace of normalisation was likely to continue at a gradual pace and the disappointing inflation data this week capped dollar gains against most other currencies, TreasuryOne currency dealer Gerard van der Westhuizen said."The yield on US treasuries traded lower, with the benchmark 10-year coming down from its high of 3%, indicating some flattening of the yield curve," he said. This meant markets were not expecting that many hikes during the course of 2018.At 3pm, the R186 was bid at 8.33% from 8.38% and the R207 at 7.19% from 7.23%.The rand was at R12.1943 to the dollar from R12.3017.Goldman S...
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