TUESDAY, 7.00PM:
THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s buoyant start to the week ended swiftly on Tuesday, with only the all gold index closing in positive territory as all share, industrial and financial indices lost almost 2%.
Much of the slump was ascribed to the disappointing figures released by South African Breweries’ annual results presentation. Again, the market took its cue from the United States, with trading thin as the US markets took an early knock.
At close the all gold index had gained 12,8 points to 1062,9, while the industrial index fell 184,4 points to 9688,2. The financial index also fell, shedding 227,4 points to 13450,7. The all share reflected the general trend, losing 154,5 points to end the day on 8016,0.
The bond market continued its bear run — with the yield on the R150 surging 27 basis points to hit an two-month-high of 13,14% during trade as bonds hit the market in a sell-off. The market halted its benchmark’s plunge in later trade to close at a 13,06% yield, after Monday’s close of 12,87%. The R153 also ended the day considerably softer on a 13,385% yield, after a previous close of 13,19%.
The rand struggled to keep its head above water on Tuesday, forcing the Reserve Bank to maintain a constant presence in the market. The rand was at R5,0715 to the dollar at 4.00pm, after a previous close of R5,0610. The rand dipped slightly against the Sterling to R8,2868 to the unit at 4.00pm. Gold was quoted at $299,05 an ounce when the South African markets closed.