Resources led the downside as the JSE slipped into negative territory by noon on Wednesday, moving in line with weak Eastern markets as uncertainty and lack of confidence continued to weigh.
The JSE all-share index had weakened 0,77%, with resources falling 1,59%. However, gold miners added 1,60% and platinum miners firmed 2,12%.
Banks added 0,62%, financials were flat, up 0,07%, and industrials edged down 0,22%.
The rand was last bid at 10,24 to the dollar, unchanged from when the JSE closed on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at $970,55/oz a troy ounce from $968,95/oz at the JSE’s last close, and platinum was at $1 111,50/oz from its previous close of $1 086/oz.
“We are moving down in line with weaker eastern markets. We tried to rally on the back of better US futures but that turned down,” an equities trader said.
“There is still a lot of scepticism and lack of confidence in this stimulus package [the US financial stimulus package]. Everyone is rushing to these gold and platinum stocks as perceived safety.
“Locally, we will still remain in the hands of overseas trends.
“The market is still worried and the volatility is still there. Markets rally quite nicely and then it all falls apart again,” he said.
Dow Jones Newswires reports that the FTSE 100 paced Wednesday’s losses after BOE minutes, which echo last week’s quarterly inflation report regarding the UK’s deteriorating outlook, noted Martin Slaney, head of derivatives at GFT Global Markets.
“With inflation falling less than expected in Jan, this [data] would suggest that we may be at the bottom of the easing cycle and that there is little to gain from further interest rate cuts,” he said.
“Focus now looks set to switch to quantitative easing and we look forward to how this will be accommodated,” he added.
The FTSE 100 was last down 1,55%
US stocks are expected to open nearly unchanged, struggling to find direction after Tuesday’s sell-off but tempered from bouncing given the dire sentiment, said Martin Slaney, trader at GFT Global Markets.
He called the DJIA to open down two points and the S&P 500 up 1,4 points.
Among equity movers on the JSE, resources giant Anglo American lost R7,12, or 3,97%, to R172 and BHP Billiton weakened R5,33, or 3,14%, to R164,67.
Petrochemicals group Sasol lost R6,50, or 2,45%, to R258,50.
Paper group Sappi was up 24 cents to R26,49 but rival Mondi weakened 28 cents, or 1,17%, to R23,72.
Kumba Iron Ore shed R6,71, or 4,17%, to R154,29 and Highveld Steel lost R1,78, or 3,07%, to R56,22.
Among gold miners, AngloGold Ashanti added R3,10 to R323, Gold Fields was up R1,95, or 1,65%, to R120 and Harmony added R3,70, or 3,01%, to R126,70.
Platinum miner Anglo Platinum gained R15, or 3,54%, to R439 and Impala Platinum added R2,35, or 1,75%, to R136,85 but Lonmin was off R7,08, or 4,40%, to R153,92.
Aquarius Platinum was down R1,32, or 4,58%, to R27,50. Aquarius Platinum and Ridge Mining plc announced on Wednesday that they have signed a non-binding letter of intent that subject to a number of pre-conditions Aquarius is prepared to make an all share offer for the entire issued share capital of Ridge.
The offer is at an exchange ratio of one Aquarius share for every 2,75 Ridge shares in issue. The ratio was based on the relative net asset values of the respective companies.
In diversified miners, African Rainbow shed R4,61, or 3,92%, to R112,89, Exxaro lost R1, or 1,49%, to R66 and Hulamin was down 49 cents, or 4,46%, to R10,50.
Among industrials, SABMiller was up R1,19 to R155,61, Barloworld slipped R1,71, or 4,78%, to R34,03, Remgro lost R1,04, or 1,42%, to R72,26 and British American Tobacco weakened R3,27, or 1,25%, to R258.
Banker Nedbank was up R1,90, or 2,34%, to R83, Absa added R1,26, or 1,40%, to R91,26 and FirstRand firmed 22 cents, or 1,67%, to R13,42.
Old Mutual lost 18 cents, or 2,54%, to R6,92, Sanlam lost 17 cents, or 1,07%, to R15,69 and African Bank was down 54 cents, or 2,08%, to R25,36.
However, RMB Holdings was up 29 cents, or 1,38%, to R21,29.
Retailer Shoprite rose R1,26, or 2,53%, to R51,16. The group earlier reported a 43,3% rise in diluted headline earnings per share to 184 cents for the six months ended December 2008 from 128,4 cents for the interim period a year ago.
An interim dividend of 70 cents per share was declared, up 42,9% from 49 cents a year ago.
Total turnover increased by 27,3% to R29,6-billion, while the group’s trading profit was up 38,2% at R1,409-billion.
Massmart was up R1,24, or 1,70%, to R74,24 and Lewis added 72 cents, or 1,76%, to R41,52, but JD Group was down R1,19, or 3,36%, to R34,26.
Construction group Aveng fell 75 cents, or 2,94%, to R24,75 and Murray & Roberts was off 84 cents, or 2,30%, to R35,66.
Cement manufacturer Pretoria Portland Cement gave up 60 cents, or 1,96%, to R30,01.
Property holding and investment company Growthpoint edged up six cents to R14,25. It earlier reported a 10,2% distribution growth to 56,3 cents per linked unit for the six months ended December 2008 from the 51,1 cents for the same period in 2007.
The headline loss was at 62,98 cents per linked unit compared to headline earnings of 46,37 cents during the same time in 2007.
IT company Pinnacle Technology Holdings added 11 cents, or 6,47%, to R1,81. The group earlier advised that for the six months ended December its fully diluted headline earnings per share were projected to be between 24 and 26 cents per share, being between 14,3% and 7,1% lower than the comparative period’s 28 cents.
Fully diluted headline earnings per share, if adjusted for the exceptional foreign exchange loss, amounts to 37,7 cents per share compared with 2007’s 28 cents per share — being 34,6% higher than the previous year.
Delta Electrical Industries added 24 cents, or 2,66%, to R9,25. It said earlier that better than forecast sales volumes in December 2008 have resulted in improved earnings and headline earnings for the 2008 year compared with the forecast provided in the trading statement of 15 December 2008.
Headline earnings per share are now forecast to be between 166 cents and 204 cents for the 12 months ended 27 December 2008 after a loss per share of 297,9 cents a year ago.
Telecommunications group MTN Group was down R1,33, or 1,45%, to R90,22 and Telkom lost 61 cents to R110,34.
MTN said earlier that in light of the severe constraints in current financial markets, its board has determined that it is presently not in the best interests of the company, its shareholders and the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) investors to implement the proposed BEE Transaction during the first half of 2009 as originally planned. — I-Net Bridge