SARAH BULLEN, Cape Town | Monday 5.00pm
THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange pulled back in the afternoon after heading back down towards the 9000 mark in earlier trade.
Dealers said the early fall, somewhat of a pattern of late, was largely a result of futures trade. The fall pulled bargain hunters into the market in the afternoon which took the edge off the day’s losses. At close of trade the all share index was down 0,33% at 9012.
Leading the day’s overall drop were financial shares, which lost 0,95% before recovering ground to close the day down 0,75% at 11718. The all gold index closed 1,76% lower at 1133 after the gold price, trading at $287,05, was $2 an ounce down from its Friday New York close of $289,35.
At 4.30pm gold was trading at $287,05 an ounce, with the rand down a bit against the dollar at R6,14.
The bond market softened on weekend reports that international credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s may not look favourably on South Africa in a forthcoming ratings review following a negative report on the country from one of its divisions.
The key R150 bond was at 12,82% yield by close of trade. The JSE’s fall came despite positive Asian and European markets which were buoyed by another rally by New York’s tech-heavy Nasdaq index.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 0,39% up while Tokyo’s Nikkei Dow was up 0,95% on the day.