OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 7.10pm
PRESSURE on the Colombian peso, concerns over Argentina’s economic plight and fears of political instability in Brazil sent emerging markets into the throws of panic overnight.
The uneasy Latin American situation compounded by rumours of a Chinese yuan devaluation have seen a flight to quality with investors piling into safe haven dollars. Yields on the 30-year US Treasury rallied as low as 5.91% overnight.
The rand buckled amid emerging market contagion trading to a high of 6.18 against the dollar – its weakest level in 5 weeks.
Money that had flowed into South African bonds and equities because of restored confidence in the local economy started reversing. Investors fear that the current turmoil could disrupt and destabilise recent positive fundamentals.
The JSE all share index fell 100 points to 7188. The fall would have been more severe save for strong demand in resource stocks.
The resource index put on 4 points to 4612 but the financial index lost 234 points (2.2%) to 10208 and the industrial index gave up 147 points (1.95%) to 7407.
Dealers described the bond market as rand driven.
Rates on the benchmark R150 opened at 14.15% but heavy selling pressure amid emerging market jitters lifted rates through the key 14.22% technical level to settle around 14.41%.
Hefty selling in gold shares levelled the board. Heavyweight Anglogold surrendered 940 to 24500, Harmony lost 55 to 2400 and Gold Fields eased 10 to 1820. Anglos continued its rise adding 140 to 30640, Avmin rose 100 to 4300 and Billiton was up 80 to 2380.