FRIDAY, 7.00PM:
THE key indices on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange drifted lower throughout the day on Friday, bringing an explosive week to a slow close. Despite the directionless market, the day recorded the highest volume of stock traded this year at R2,432-billion, with a number of asset swaps, late trades and block trades pushing the volume up.
“It was a big day,” Merrill, Lynch, Smith, Borkum, Hare dealer David Fell said. “There was a lot of selling.” A number of traders registered disappointment that the indices had not closed higher as the Dow Dow Jones industrial average opened to a “flying” start in New York. “It is basically not a happy market at all,” Fell concluded.
At close of markets at 14.00GMT, the key all share index had dipped 25,2 points from a 7516 opening, to close on 7491,1. The industrial index closed on 9038,7; 48,4 points down on Thursday’s close, while the all gold dropped a further 15,3 points to 879,8. Only the financial index ended in positive territory, climbing 118,6 points to 13448. Financials lost 72 points during trade on Thursday.
The bond market managed to haul itself out of the doldrums on Friday to end slightly firmer, although it limped through the day with a thin volume changing hands. With precious little domestic data released, all eyes were on the rand. At close the R150 offered a tighter 13,850% yield, after trading in a thin band between 13,670% and 13,940% through the day. The R153 ended the week at 14,045%, after a previous close of 14,070%.
Foreign exchange markets had an eerily quiet close to the week on Friday, slowly drifting weaker against the dollar to close at R5,1335 at 4.00pm (14.00GMT), after hitting an all time low of R5,2160 on Monday. A number of trader, however, said they expect the market to fall further next week as fears of Asian shockwaves continue to flood emerging markets.