MICHAEL METELITS, Johannesburg | Wednesday 6.00pm.
WEAK international markets and profit-taking brought the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to its knees on Wednesday, as most major indices closed down over 1% and bonds and the rand slipped.
Dealers blamed a mixture of unwinding long equity positions to reap profits and generalised caution in the markets for the slide. The all share lost 1,54% or 108 points, while industrials dumped 85 points for a 1,14% drop.
Financials managed to keep losses to 0,75% shedding 73 points on the day, while all gold gave up 14 points for a 1,40% loss.
Bonds weakened slightly, and dealers blamed the softening rand and generalised worries from global markets for the slip. One dealer also suspected there were some long positions in the benchmark R150 being unloaded in the market.
The R150 gave up 8 basis points from its previous 14,23% close to finish at 14,31%, putting any assault on the 14% barrier further into the future than interest-rate watchers might like.
The market was at a loss to explain why the rand slipped 4 cents, closing at R6,11 to the dollar from its R6,07 mark on Tuesday. Some dealers expect the unit to show resistance at the R6,12 level.
Internationally, Tokyo’s Nikkei-225 was closed on Wednesday for the final day of a three-day national holiday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng managed a modest gain of 26 points or 0,20%.
In Europe, the FTSE-100 in London lost 65 points or 0,98% in the morning session and Frankfurt’s DAX followed suit, dropping 58 points for a 1,07% loss. Paris’ CAC-40 kept pace with the larger exchanges, losing 0,94% or 42 points.