THURSDAY, 9.30PM:
SHARES on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange slipped steadily on Thursday as the gold price teetered on the precipice.
At the close the all gold index had fallen to a 16-year low, after losing 11 points, to 690, while the industrial index dropped 68,3 points to 7 628,5, and the financial index held its own, losing 0,1 points to close at 10 032,7. All indices recovered from their intraday lows. The all share index ended 34,4 points lower at 6 262,4.
Bullion was last seen hovering around the critical $290/oz level at $289,35 compared to a London morning fix of $289,85/oz. There are fears that if gold broaches $290/oz, the next holding point will be $275/oz. Krugerrands (quoted in rands) also felt the effects and dropped to an new annual low of R1 400 after falling R23.
The rand meanwhile also suffered the bullion blues, but recovered slightly as offshore banks spilled excess dollars into the market. At 4pm the rand traded at a bid-offer rate of R4,8625-55 to the dollar from Wednesday’s close of R4,8590-8620. The rand traded between bids of between R4,8580 and R4,8660.
Bonds ended softer in thin trade on Thursday as local players took profits following the more than 20 point gain since last Friday, dealers said.
At 4.30pm the benchmark long government bond, the R150, was quoted at a 14,10% yield — five basis points weaker than Wednesday’s close. The longer-dated R153 bond was last 5,5 basis points softer at a 14,185% yield. The Eskom E168 traded at 14,30% from Wednesday’s close of 14,26%. The range on the R150 was 14,14% to 14,05%.