JSE tracks global markets weaker

The JSE fell at the start of trading, with gold shares leading the downside, amid a continued selloff in the general resources sector.

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The JSE fell at the start of trading on Thursday, with gold shares leading the downside, amid a continued selloff in the general resources sector.

At 09:19 local time, the JSE all-share index was down 0.27% to 33,532.48 points, with gold shares losing 1.37%, resources slipping 0.19% and platinum miners shedding 0.66%.

Financials dipped 0.30%, industrials were down 0.30%, and banks were 0.40% in the red.

The rand was trading at 7.67 to the US dollar, from 7.69 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at US$1,663.15 a troy ounce from US$1,673.09/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1,641/oz, unchanged from the previous session.

Ferdi Heyneke, portfolio manager at Afrifocus Securities, said: “The underlying reason behind the selloff in the resources front is global economic growth concerns. We are tracking the global markets.”

In Asia, markets were mostly lower with resources and energy stocks struggling amid falls in commodity and crude prices, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.67% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 1.55%.

European stock markets were expected to open lower, as weaker-than-expected economic data from both sides of the Atlantic, released on Wednesday, rekindled investor concerns about the pace of the global economic recovery.

While US durable goods orders rose 2.2% in March, the increase was less than the 3% gain economists had forecast. In the UK, a weaker-than-anticipated reading of fourth-quarter gross domestic product left some traders suggesting further quantitative easing by the Bank of England could be on the way.

Wednesday's disappointing releases added to the recent string of uninspiring US and Chinese economic data and prompted investors to reassess their investment decisions. Additionally, a larger-than-expected rise in crude oil inventories had some commentators interpreting this as a sign of softening demand and confirmation of a global slowdown.

As it turned out, London's FTSE 100 index was down 0.09% to 5,803.53 points.

On the JSE, Anglo American (AGL) slipped 24 cents to R287.45, while BHP Billiton (BIL) shed R1.56 to R232.09 and Sasol (SOL) lost R1.91 to R368.09.

Among gold stocks, AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) was down R5.31 or 1.86% to R280.40, Harmony Gold Mining (HAR) was off R1.02 or 1.22% to R82.49 and Gold One International (GDO) was up 12 cents, or 2.94% to R4.20.

Impala Platinum (IMP) was R1.99, or 1.26% weaker, at R156.21 and Lonmin (LON) shed R1.26 to R130.23

Among other miners Exxaro Resources (EXX) was down R1.74 to R196.72, while Kumba Iron Ore (ARI) lost R2.76 to R519.64.

Among industrials, British American Tobacco (BTI) was up R1 to R389 while Richemont (CFR) gained 35 cents to R48.05. Jubilee Platinum Plc (JBL) was unchanged at R1.52. The AIM and JSE-listed platinum miner reported an operating loss of GBP3.802 million for the six months ended December from a loss of GBP1.298 million a year ago. The loss attributable to shareholders widened to GBP3.35 million from a loss of GBP1.25 million previously. The loss per share for the period was 1.24 pence against a loss of 0.76 pence for the interim period ended December 2010. Of this, depreciation accounted for 0.27 pence per share.

Mvelaserve (MVS) was also unchanged at R11.80. The black empowered provider of outsourced business support services reported a sharp decline in headline earnings per share to 19.5 cents for the six months ended December from 31.9 cents a year ago. No interim dividend was declared in line with group policy. Total revenue was up 14% to R2.53 billion, in line with expectations, the company said.

Goliath Gold Mining (GGM) was at R4.15, unchanged from the previous session. The Gold-focused development company moved into the black, with headline earnings per share of 0.6 cents for the nine months ended December after a loss of 1.6 cents previously, after taking into account the 10 for 1 share consolidation in May 2011. If the share consolidation had taken place at the end of March 2011, the headline and diluted headline earnings per share would have been 15.7 cents, the company said. - I-Net Bridge

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/jse-tracks-global-markets-weaker-1.1266340

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