[2008-08-04]  JSE dives into red on globals and miners
THE JSE ended deep in the red on Friday following similar drops in overseas markets, with miners among the worst causalities on tumbling commodity prices, traders said. The all share index ended a huge 4,38% lower at 26504,580, weighed by a 9,77% drop in platinum shares, a 6,37% loss in gold shares and a 6,13% fall in resources.

Banks were off 4,09%, financials dropped 2,15% and industrials weakened 3,04%. “It’s blood on the streets,” Martin Lentsoane of Cortex Securities said.

The sell-off was sparked by heavy losses on Wall Street on Thursday night after jobless claims rose and the US central bank chief said the country’s economy was on the brink of recession, Lentsoane said.

“Metal prices are falling and platinum was down over $100 at one point. I haven’t seen something like that. So you have falling metal prices and a stronger rand, a recipe that sends the miners tumbling,” he said.

However, Lentsoane said there was “panic selling” in gold mining shares, because the price of gold had not fallen to the extent that the shares were showing.

Dow Jones Newswires reported US stocks fell in early trade on Friday after the seventh successive monthly contraction of the US job market brought the unemployment rate up to 5,7% last month, the highest level since March 2004, and as fears grow about the US motor industry.


On the JSE, Anglo American (AGL) was down R23,34, or 5,53%, to R398,66 and BHP Billiton (BIL) gave up R15,84, or 6,48%, to R228,79. Sasol (SOL) lost R10,01, or 2,53%, to R384,99.

Among gold miners, Gold Fields (GFI) was down R9,47, or 10,70%, at R79.

Other gold shares were also down, with AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) off R10,24, or 4,24%, to R231,01 and Harmony (HAR) losing R3,85, or 4,8%, to R76,40.

Among platinum miners, Anglo Platinum (AMS) shed R54,99, or 5,7%, to R910,01 and Impala Platinum (IMP) lost R30,87, or 12,56%, to R214,95.


Among industrials, SABMiller (SAB) was R3,99, or 2,6%, softer at R149,31, Bidvest (BVT) shed R4, or 3,94%, to R97,50 and Remgro (REM) weakened R7,51 or 3,88%, to R185,99.

Among banks, Standard Bank (SBK) was off R4,68, or 5,15%, to R86,22, Nedbank (NED) was down R3,12, or 3%, at R101 and Absa (ASA) was R2,25, or 2,20%, in the red at R100.

Cellular group MTN gave up R3, or 2,37%, to R123,80 and Telkom (TKG) slipped R2, or 1,44%, to R137.

South African near-dated futures plummeted on Friday as a combination of a strong rand, a downturn on Wall Street and a slide in the platinum price conspired to drag the market lower.

The near-dated Alsi contract ended a whopping 1238 points, or 4,78%, in the red at 24660.

A total of 51655 Alsi contracts changed hands compared with 37045 on Thursday, a Safex official said.


South African white maize futures wrapped up the week with steep losses on Friday, weighed by overnight falls on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), traders said.

The September contract closed R43 higher at R1844 a ton while December fell R45 — the allowable daily trading limit — to R1931.

Traders said although the market has strong upside technical momentum, sharp losses in CBOT were enough to drag the local grain market down.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that CBOT maize futures closed markedly lower on a benign weather forecast, slipping crude oil prices and a last minute surge of month-end liquidation.

September maize closed down 14c to $5,87½ a bushel, December maize closed down 13¾c to $6,07½ , and March closed down 13 3/4¾c to $6,27½ .

The rand, which when strong erodes export competitiveness, remained in the front foot during the session, traders said.

Source: Copyright © 2005 BDFM Publishers (Pty) Ltd.