Nationalisation talks knock JSE

Johannesburg - South African stocks ended firmly in the red on Tuesday tracking global sentiment, and on the back of local political calls for the ANC to discuss nationalising the Reserve Bank.

Commodity prices are also weaker, while The South African Reserve Bank's (Sarb's) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Tuesday decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 7.0%, thereby having very little impact on the local bourse.

By 17:00 the JSE all share index was down 1.58%, with resources off 2.24%, platinum miners 3.55% weaker and gold miners declined 2.34%. Banks fell 0.38%, financials were off 0.47% and industrials moved 1.42% lower.

The rand was bid at R7.59 to the dollar from R7.55 when the JSE closed on Monday. Gold was quoted at $1 093.40 a troy ounce from $1 096.46 at the JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1 512.50/oz, from $1 546/oz at the bourse's previous close.

A local equities dealer said: "The downside has continued right across the board led by resources and platinum's amid weaker commodity prices.

"Global sentiment is negative, with Dow futures continuing a downward trend, while the local market decline was exacerbated by talk of nationalising the Reserve Bank."

Dow Jones Newswires reports that US stocks opened lower on Tuesday morning, as fears that China is clamping down on bank lending sent materials slumping and earnings weighed on the telecommunications sector.

Global jitters were reignited on Tuesday when Standard & Poor's Ratings Services warned that it may downgrade Japan's sovereign credit ratings. Concerns over Chinese monetary tightening also hit markets, after several Chinese banks have reportedly ordered some branches to suspend new lending for the rest of this month. Metals futures, notably platinum, dropped sharply, and oil futures fell by 67c a barrel.

Further dampening sentiment, US home prices in 10 major metropolitan areas fell 4.5% in November from a year earlier, while the index for 20 major metropolitan areas dropped 5.3% on the year, according to the S&P Case-Shiller index. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a 5.3% decline over the year. Both indexes declined 0.2% compared with October.

- I-Net Bridge