SARAH BULLEN, Cape Town | Thursday 4.45pm
THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange fell victim to a bought of cold feet on Thursday after the Reserve Bank’s announcement that it will freeze the repo rate at 12% as a Y2K precaution.
By close of trade the all share index was down 0,28%, with a 0,60% fall in the financial index to 9 165.
Adding to the market’s lack of interest was Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, which saw all businesses closed. One dealer suggested that the market’s lack of interest could be because everyone’s eyes were fixed on the cricket Test match between England and South Africa.
The rand continued to inch up against international currencies, and was trading at R6,11 to the dollar and R9,85 to the pound at 4.30pm.
Gold stock showed some weakness after the bullion price dipped earlier in the day to $298,00 an ounce after closing in New York at $298,90 on Wednesday. At 4.30pm gold was marginally higher at $298,65, but not before the all gold index shed 1,33%.
South African Breweries continued to show weakness, losing more ground after its half-year results disappointed the market on Wednesday. On international markets, Hong Kong took a plunge on Thursday as its Hang Seng index lost 2,56%. Tokyo’s Nikkei Dow, however, closed firmer with a 0,81% gain. European markets were firm with London’s FTSE-100 up 2,94% in late afternoon.