WEDNESDAY, 11.00AM
The gold index fell 23,6 points, or 2,45% on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on Tuesday, to a two-month low of 937,9, tumbling as bullion fixed $1,30 lower at $321. The fall pulled down the JSE all share index 33,7 points, to a three-month low of 7145,8, allied with continued futures-based selling in industrial stocks.
One dealer said: “No one’s taking that much interest in gold because there’s no money to be made in it.” Dealers said industrials had fallen almost 3% in the past week and were near their bottom, but that futures players could still drag industrials down further before Friday’s close-out.
The bond market firmed after the latest US consumer inflation figures were released, with the government’s R150 firming by six basis points to 14,01 at the close. Dealers said the bond market was driven by continuing expectations of an interest cut, backed by fundamentals such as the lower US inflation rate. The Reserve Bank’s stand on interest rates and thin local economic and corporate news reinforced the negative sentiment dominating the market, dealers said.