The JSE’s all share index was in the red at midday on Friday despite the weaker rand and mostly higher European markets. There was little corporate news on Friday to give the market direction.
Traders were at a loss to explain the weakness, attributing it to selling ahead of the weekend after a good week on the local bourse.
By noon, the all share index was off 0,76%, while the all share industrial indices declined 0,32%. Resources fell 1,26%, the gold mining index lost 2,63%, while the platinum mining index shed 0,93%. Financials were off 0,69% and the banking index was 1,2% weaker.
The rand was bid at 6,11 per dollar from 6,07 when the JSE closed on Thursday, while gold was quoted at $551,17 a troy ounce from $552,05/oz at the JSE’s last close.
“It’s tough to call why we are down, especially with the weaker rand. We ran so hard in the past week, so it’s likely just selling ahead of the weekend. There is weakness across the board and it’s not stock-specific,” a trader said.
One of the main features of the morning was resources group Lonmin, which moved down sharply after it advised it was no longer in discussions which might lead to an offer for the company.
On February 17 Lonmin said it had held preliminary discussions on an offer, but did not say with whom it was talking. Speculation in the media produced names such as Gold Fields, Canada’s Barrick Gold Corp and XStrata as possible suitors.
At noon, Lonmin’s shares were at R241,92 rand, down 8,2% or R21,58 from its previous close. Last Friday, on the news that Lonmin had entered into preliminary talks, its shares surged to an all-time high of R294.
Global resources group Anglo American shed 185 cents to R230,50 and BHP Billiton fell 182 cents or 1,73% to R103,58.
Paper and pulp company Sappi declined 215 cents or 2,62% to R80 and Sasol was down 100 cents to R218.
Gold mining group AngloGold Ashanti declined R8 or 2,4% to R323, Gold Fields lost R2,21 or 1,6% to R138,19 and Harmony Gold lost 4,2% or R3,94 to R90.
Among platinum stocks, Anglo Platinum fell R3,20 to R488, Impala Platinum was R8 down at R1Â 038 and Northam was off 44 cents to R27,30.
Transport and logistics group Super Group was up 10 cents to R12,70. Earlier it advised that it expects earnings per share and headline earnings per share for the 12 months ending March 31 2006 to be between 10% and 20% above those of a year ago.
Fast Food retailer Famous Brands was up 39 cents, or 3,25%, at R12,40 after it advised its three-month system-wide retail sales, including new restaurants, were up 21%, with like for like sales up 14% in the quarter from November 1 2005 to January 31 2006 compared with the previous year.
The company attributed the strong performance to the potency of the group’s brands, optimisation of capex and acquisitions, and the favourable economic climate.
Among banks Nedbank was down 21 cents to R117,79 and Absa shed 249 cents, or 2,06%, to R118,50.
Old Mutual was up 12 cents to R20,70. – I-Net Bridge