Johannesburg | Wednesday
THE All Share Index on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) recovered gradually towards noon on Wednesday after dropping 6% following news of the attacks on the United States on Tuesday, an analyst said.
The JSE’s overall market indicator was at 8_103 points around 12pm (10H00 GMT) after opening at 7 952 points, down from 8_741 points just before the news of the attack reached traders, said analyst Michael Keenan at Standard and Poor’s Money Market Services in Johannesburg.
In neighbouring Bostwana the country’s stock exchange housed in the United Nations’ Place in Gaborone has closed as part of worldwide UN security precautions, the South African news agency Sapa reported.
The JSE was open for trading on Wednesday, but analysts said the situation was one of confusion.
An analyst at brokerage Barnard Jacobs Mellet (BJM), Andile Mazwai, said there was much confusion on the floor as traders waited for more news on the situation in the United States.
“It’s just wild, wild, wild. Traders don’t know whether they should buy or sell. We just don’t know,” he said.
Gold opened at $278 an ounce and bounced up to $283,50 in mid-morning trading.
The South African rand strengthened slightly to the dollar, pound and euro, after again hitting record low points on Tuesday after news of the attacks broke. – AFP
ZA*NOW:
Gold surges, rand plunges September 12, 2001