[2008-09-01]  JSE sharply weaker led by miners
SOUTH African stocks ended a seesaw session lower on Friday, with miners the worst casualties on profit taking and uncertainty about direction of commodity prices, traders said.

Overall, traders said a weak opening on Wall Street and the local bourse’s inability to make credible moves above the 28000 level forced traders square up positions ahead of the weekend.

Stocks recovered somewhat at some point during the session, inspired by gains on European markets, but traders warned that the market’s final direction would be dictated by the kind of opening on Wall Street.

“We have seen big runs in the market but I think from a technical perspective we needed to break above the 28000 level to keep the momentum going. Also Wall Street’s weaker opening is having some negative impact. No one wants to go into the weekend with long positions," one trader said.

The all share index ended 1,16% lower, weighed by a 2,52% drop in the gold mining index. The resources index was off 1,52% and the platinum mining index fell 1,69%. Banks weakened 1,63%, financials retreated 1,26% and industrials were 0,66% in the red.

Back in Johannesburg, resources giant Anglo American (AGL) was down R7,05, or 1,70%, to R407,94 and BHP Billiton (BIL) eased R6,37, or 2,59%, to R239,28. Mvela Resources (MVL) recovered 96c, or 2,09%, to R46,91. Synthetic fuels maker Sasol (SOL) bounced back R4,95, or 1,18%, to R424,95.

Gold miner AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) decreased R5, or 2,34%, to R208,50, Gold Fields (GFI) shed R3,45, or 4,63%, to R71 and Harmony (HAR) tumbled R1,45, or 2,10%, to R67,50. Among platinum miners, Anglo Platinum (AMS) lost R6 to R974, and Impala (IMP) was off R6,05, or 2,70%, at R217,95.

Among industrials, brewer SABMiller (SAB) lost R1,96, or 1,18%, to R164,54 and Richemont (RCH) dipped 64c, or 1,41%, to R44,85. Banking group Standard Bank (SBK) surrendered R2, or 2,17%, to R90 and FirstRand (FSR) was 32c, or 1,91%, weaker at R16,42. Telecoms group Telkom (TKG) was flat at R139,41.

South African futures closed lower on Friday driven by lower local equity stocks especially in the mining sector. “The losses were felt across the board but the mining sector was particularly hard hit," a trader said. The near-dated Alsi contract lost 385 points, or 1,48%, to 25545 from Thursday’s close of 25930. “The stronger currency didn’t help the markets much," the trader said adding it would be interesting to see if the JSE’s all share index would reach the 28000 level this week. A total of 33288 Alsi contracts changed hands compared with 41570 on Wednesday, a Safex official said.

South African white maize futures ended lower on Friday on the back of lower trade on Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). “Our market traded lower today, mainly due to the lower US prices,” a grains trader said.

The December white maize contract lost R21 to R1956 a ton, March was down R21 at R2035 and September maize, which will be in delivery next month, lost R27 to R1868. “The market is currently testing the R1950 level on December maize. It is important to watch what will happen on US markets tonight,” the trader said, pointing out that if CBOT trades lower, then we could see local markets breaking below the R1950 level and possibly trading as low as R1870 today.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that CBOT corn futures ended lower on a lower crude oil price, and rainfall that fell across parts of the US corn belt, traders said.

A system that dumped rain on parts of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin and Illinois was good for the crop, which has been threatened by a dry August, traders said. A drop in crude oil pressured the market and funds continued to sell, traders said.

September maize ended down 7½c to $5,70 a bushel, December maize was down 8 ¼c to $5,87 ¾ , and March maize was down 8 ¼c to $6,06 ¾.
Source: Copyright © 2005 BDFM Publishers (Pty) Ltd.