DAVID LE PAGE, Johannesburg | Monday 5.30pm.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange was one of the few markets to buck Monday’s trend to decline.
Led by industrials’ 105-point push to 7241, all the major indices pushed their way upwards on Monday. Gold climbed 13 points to 964 and financials 89 points to 9495. The overall index finished around 6275.
The repo rate dropped further, crossing the 17% mark to 16,98%.
The rand closed at R6,17 to the dollar, R6,72 to the euro and R9,89 to the pound.
Gold ended at $289,95 an ounce.
The yield on the benchmark R150 bond strengthened, dropping to 14,08%.
The dollar dropped against the yen to 121 on Monday morning, as low wage inflation figures knocked hopes of an interest rate hike.
In Europe, the euro strengthened on reports that European interest rates will not be dropping as long as the new currency remains at its current level.
The FTSE 100 had dropped 11,20 points by mid-afternoon to 6216, on news of a decline in industrial production.
In Germany, the Frankfurt DAX dropped 31 points to 4807, while in Paris the CAC40 lost five points, dropping to 4194.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei lost 114 points to close on 14779, but the ever-buoyant Hang Seng index in Hong Kong held its own, climbing 22 points to 10263.