SARAH BULLEN in Johannesburg | Tuesday 6.15pm.
THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange remained soft on Tuesday although managing to slow down the aggressive slide of the past two days.
Firmer Asian and European markets should have lent a stronger undertone to the battered market with a strong opening for S&P futures adding weight to the more positive mood. South African shares, however, failed to capitalise on the trend and moved slowly lower throughout the day. Reserve Bank governor Chris Stals’s address on releasing the Bank’s annual report was seen by the market as fairly bland, making very little impact on the already thin trade. July CPI figures released later in the day came out at a high 6,6% annualised, but also had no major impact on the market.
At close of day all the key indices were lower, with the all gold index taking the hardest knock, losing 24 points to 839, as the rand’s strength combined with a lower bullion spot price worked against it. The all share index ended 19 points down at 5898 while the financial index lost 25 points to 9851.
The already weak bond market closed sharply down, hit by Stals’s address and the disappointing CPI figures combined with a further decline in the Russian rouble. The R150 closed at its day’s peak of 18,210% after trading in a wide band of 17,650% -18,210%. The R153 also closed on its low of 17,850%. The rand was fractionally up at R6,28 to the dollar at 4.30pm while a pound cost R10,221.