The JSE remained softer at midday on Friday pressured by miners on falling commodity prices, but banks and financials capped further losses following Thursday’s rates decision, traders said.
By 12.01pm, the all-share index was down 0,79%, weighed by a 6,02% drop the gold-mining index. The platinum-mining index weakened 3,06% and resources gave up 2,82%.
However, banks rose 1,24%, financials added 1,28% while industrials improved 0,90%.
The rand was bid at 7,98 to the dollar from 7,79 when the JSE closed on Thursday, while gold was quoted at $781,25 a troy ounce from $820,43/oz at the JSE’s last close. Platinum was last trading at $1 398/oz — down $83, or 5,60%, from its overnight close.
“Sentiment has turned more bearish across the metals spectrum this morning [Friday] after yesterday’s CPI reading [in the United States] triggered speculation that the Fed may raise interest rates in order to cap inflation,” said James Moore, a metals analyst at London-based BullionDesk.
Local traders said even the sharply weaker rand was not enough to halt the sell-off in commodity shares, with one saying: “The sell-off in the metals complex is too severe.”
However, it was not all gloomy on the local bourse as financials, retailers and other interest-rate-sensitive stocks posted decent gains following Thursday’s interest-rates decision, traders said.
The South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee on Thursday decided to leave the repo rate unchanged at 12%.
In the US, stock futures rose on Friday as gains for the dollar triggered a fresh drop in oil futures and a break below $800 an ounce for gold, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
S&P 500 futures rose 5,5 points to 1 299,30 and Nasdaq 100 futures added 7,25 points to 1 973. Dow industrial futures added 60 points.
US stocks ended higher on Thursday, breaking a two-day losing run as investors looked past a bigger-than-forecast rise of consumer prices in July to the decline in oil prices. The Dow industrials rose 82 points, the S&P 500 added seven points and the Nasdaq Composite gained 25 points.
Back in Johannesburg, gold shares were the worst-hit stocks with AngloGold Ashanti plummeting R18, or 8,07% to R205. Gold Fields slumped R2,82, or 3,87%, to R69,98 and Harmony dropped R3,16, or 4,98%, to R60,34. It earlier reported a 2,6% drop in headline earnings per share to 38 cents for the three months to end June, or its fourth quarter, from 39 cents the quarter before.
The company reported a 13% increase in quarterly output from 332 662 ounces in the March quarter to 375 970 ounces in the June quarter.
Also reporting its full year result to end June 2008, Harmony’s HEPS dropped 80% to 19 cents from 96 cents reported for the year before.
On the resource index, Anglo American was down R10,91, or 2,54%, at R418 and BHP Billiton fell R7,13, or 3,02%, to R228,65.
Sasol gave up R3,57 to R413,43.
Platinum miner Anglo Platinum fell R37,78, or 3,86%, to R942,22 and Impala Platinum was down R8,99, or 3,86%, to R224,01.
Among banks, Standard Bank was 90 cents, or 1%, higher at R90,80, FirstRand gained 46 cents, or 2,98%, to R15,92 but Nedbank lost 51 cents to R107,49.
Clothing retailer Truworths was 87 cents, or 2,81%, better at R31,87, Massmart improved 107 cents, or 1,43%, to R76,15 and Lewis Group inched up 20 cents to R39. It said earlier that revenue for the four months ended July 2008 increased by 7,4% compared with a 10% increase in revenue for the same period last year
Among industrials, luxury goods group Richemont was up 100 cents, or 2,20%, to R46,47, brewer SABMiller was 191 cents, or 1,14%, stronger at R169,90 but Remgro was off R3,45, or 1,75%, to R193,55. — I-Net Bridge