Johannesburg | Tuesday
THE South African bourse skidded to a negative close but way off earlier lows despite Wall Street plummeting five percent when it opened on Monday for the first time since last Tuesday’s US terror attacks. But dealers cautioned against reading too much into the domestic benchmark all-share index’s apparent resilience in the face of US stocks falling to nearly three-year lows at the resumption of trade at 1333 GMT.
The all-share index gave up 1,68% to close at 7,983 in trade extended by one hour to allow investor to react to the US reopen.
It earlier hit a 7,862.7 low — a loss of more than three percent. This compares to its previous closing low of 7,770.2 in early December last year.
The Johannesburg bourse has lost 8,6% of its value since last Tuesday’s suicide attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates to bolsters economic confidence but the Dow Jones Industrial Index and the Nasdaq Composite Index immediately fell about five percent at the open.
Consumer-sensitive stocks were worst affected on fears the attacks will hasten a global economic slowdown and dampen spending. Swiss-based Richemont, which is also listed on Europe’s virt-x, slid more than eight percent in Johannesburg to a new year low of R150,20 on Monday as it prepared for lower consumer spending after the attacks.
By the close it had pared its losses to 3,4% at R158. In Europe, the share was fractionally up at 3,045 Swiss francs.
Mining giant Anglo American, which has large stakes in the consumer-sensitive diamonds, gold and platinum businesses, slid 2,04% or 200 cents to R96.
Gold shares clung to slim gains. AngloGold, the world’s biggest gold miner, hopped up 1,05% or 300 cents to R290, a small rise compared to the leap in the gold price.
The precious metal jumped to levels not seen since March 2000 in London on Monday as the European market braced for possible retaliation by the United States and its allies to the attacks.
Gold spiked to $293,25/294,75 before drifting back to $290 a troy ounce, still well up from Friday’s close at $285,30/287,30. – Reuters