MICHAEL METELITS, Johannesburg | Monday 5.15pm.
EQUITIES finished the day mixed as wider South African markets looked for direction on Monday. Bonds and the rand stayed within a tight trading range and the major JSE indices did not move very far.
The all share index lost 22 points to finish at 6439 while the industrial index gained 4 points to close at 7540. The financial index lost 139 points to close at 9362 while gold grabbed 8 points to 2841.
Cahn, Shapiro dealer Daniel Spoormaker threw up his hands explaining market movements. “You pick something, and we’ll blame it,” he said. More specifically, anticipation of economic news, such as United States’s Fed FOMC meeting on Tuesday, kept volumes light in the morning while there was some selling based on Wall Street’s expected weak open.
The benchmark R150 bond finished at 14,67%, losing 20 basis points from Friday’s close while the rand jumped to R6,23 to the dollar and stayed there the whole day. The jump was due to dollar strength, as instability in Europe led international and local dealers to buy dollars as a safe haven.
In Asian markets, weak corporate earnings and selling sprees ahead of the fiscal year-end left Asia’s markets gasping for breath at the finish on Monday. Hong Kong shares eased more than 1% and Tokyo finished flat after a run-up in blue chip manufacturers fizzled.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 114,84 points to 10688,47 – a 1,06% drop. Tokyo’s Nikkei-225 lost 8,15 points, or 0,05%, closing at 16,008,84 points after bad economic news killed a rally.
Europe rallied at midday on merger rumours which pushed London’s FTSE-100 to 6208 for a gain of 1,13% or 70 points at noon. In Paris, the CAC-40 was 0,53% higher at 4137,56. Frankfurt’s DAX was up 26 points to 4825,13.