The JSE declined on Wednesday due to the stronger rand as well as the decline in gold and resources stocks, brokers said.
By 11.40am, the all share index was down 0,23%, industrials lost 0,07%, financials added 0,03%, resources fell 0,56%, the gold mining index declined 0,12%, the platinum mining index climbed 0,4% and the banks index fell 0,17%.
The rand was bid at 6,33 per dollar from 6,34 when the JSE closed on Tuesday, while gold was quoted at $466,60 a troy ounce from $465,70/oz at the JSE’s last close.
“The JSE is weaker on the rand as well as the fact that resources are off and gold is also off,” a Johannesburg broker said.
In the gold sector, AngloGold Ashanti was quoted down R3,50 or 1,3% at R270,50.
Gold Fields climbed R0,49 or 0,6% to be last quoted at R89,30 and Harmony Gold added R0,39 or 0,6% to R65.
Resources group Anglo American lost R1,06 or 0,6% to R181,80 and resources group BHP Billiton lost R1,90 or 1,9% to R97.
Platinum miners Aquarius Platinum and Impala Platinum on Wednesday announced the approval of an expansion to up annual output to 168 750 platinum group metal ounces (86 500 platinum ounces in concentrate) at the Mimosa mine in Zimbabwe.
The Mimosa mine is a 50:50 joint venture between Aquarius Platinum and Implats.
Implats was last quoted at R689, up 1,5% or R10 from the stock’s previous close, while Aquarius was untraded from its previous close of R45.
South Africa’s largest listed wine and spirits producer Distell on Wednesday announced that it had entered into an empowerment deal with Wiphold Beverages.
Wiphold will take a 15% stake in South African Distilleries and Wines for R869,4-million.
Distell was last quoted at R33,40, up 0,5% or 15 cents from the stock’s previous close.
Specialist banking group Investec said on Wednesday that the group continued to experience a strong performance during the its first half of its 2006 financial year.
Investec was last quoted at R242,99, up R8,74 or 3,7% from its previous close.
Steel group Mittal Steel South Africa added R1,40 or 2,7% to R53.
In the telecommunications sector, Telkom rose 35 cents or 0,3% to R123,85 and MTN added five cents or 0,1% to R49,80.
In the industrial sector, Remgro lost 75 cents or 0,7% to be last quoted at R107,25, cement maker PPC declined R1,50 or 0,5% to R280,50 and brewer SABMiller climbed 20 cents or 0,2% to be last quoted at R118,90.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 76,11 points at 10 481,52, while the S&P 500 fell 9,68 to 1 221,34.
The Nasdaq composite fell 13,93 points to 2 131,33. In Tokyo on Wednesday morning the Nikkei 225 Stock Average ended up 48 points, or 0,4%, at 13 196,57, the highest close since June 11, 2001 when it finished at 13 226,48. – I-Net Bridge