Johannesburg - South African stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday in line with a weak Dow and a generally dismal global outlook.
Markets around the world fell as they shook off short-lived optimism after the elections in the US and went back to "face the real problem".
Earlier Asian markets fell sharply in reaction to the more than 5% fall in the Dow overnight.
By 17:00 the JSE's all index had fallen 3.94%, weighed by resources, which tumbled 7.11%, platinum stocks, which shed 6.19%, and gold miners which gave up 1.43%.
Industrials gave up 2.45%, banks lost 1.33% and financials edged down 0.46%.
The rand was bid at 9.83 to the dollar from 9.65 when the JSE closed on Wednesday, while gold was last quoted at $753.87 a troy ounce from $755.65/oz at the JSE's last close.
The platinum price was at $867/oz; up 0.64% from its previous close of $861.50/oz and Brent crude was at $59.73 from its close of $61.87.
"There are losses across the board and resources are the main culprits," a local trader said.
The trader explained that the big cut in interest rates by the Bank of England surprised markets and sparked further selling.
"The rate cut highlighted the fact that there are still big problems in economies around the world. Nothing really is looking good at the moment," he added.
Dow Jones Newswires reports that European stocks stay mired in red, as investors appear to judge the ECB's 50bps rate cut as insufficient to stave off a deep and long-lasting recession.
The FTSE 100 was still in the red after the excitement of the BOE's 150 bps rate cut dies down. "Despite this surprisingly aggressive move, further rate cuts are likely," says Peter Hensman, Global Strategist at Newton Investment Management.
In London, the FTSE 100 was last down 3.53%. US stocks fell as information-technology bellwether Cisco Systems warned about declining sales and as US unemployment data illustrated the severity of the current recession.
The DJIA fell 92 points, or 1%, to 9 058 after briefly dipping below 9 000, bringing its losses for November to 2.8%, though it remains 15% higher than its nadir in October. The broad S&P's 500 fell 12, or 1.3%, to 940.
The Nasdaq Composite shed 27, or 1.6%, to 1 655.
Earlier in the day Asian markets also tumbled amid global economic worries, with China's main stock index dropping to a level it hasn't seen in more than two years, while benchmarks in Japan and Hong Kong slumped more than 5%.
In Japan the Nikkei ended 6.53%, or 622.10 points, at 8 899.14.
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