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Johannesburg - A little bit of sanity has at last returned to the JSE on Friday morning, with all the major indices lower by midday.
After setting new records earlier in the week, the market lost momentum on Thursday afternoon and closed lower, a tendency that was repeated on Friday morning.
The heavyweights in the index, which took the market higher earlier this week and even traded at their own record highs, took a breather on Friday.
By midday the All-share index, which at one stage on Friday morning was well on its way to 50 000 points, traded 0.70% lower on 49 109.
The Top 40-index fell 0.75% to 44 054. The indices were lower from the outset on Friday and lost further ground during morning trade.
The market also lost the important support of Wall St, which closed lower for the second consecutive day. This news put a damper on markets worldwide.
Wall St had a strong record breaking run due to better than expected company results from more than 75% of the companies that reported results for the first quarter.
However, on Thursday Wal-Mart Stores announced disappointing results that sent shock waves through the market.
On Wednesday, Macys, another retail giant in America, announced virtually no sales growth despite higher profits.
This led to fears that American consumer spending is not as strong as it was perceived to be, or that the current upswing in the American economy is facing a slow down.
The growth figures for the first quarter from the eurozone were also weaker than expected, with GDP growth of only 0.2% for the period.
In South Africa commodity producers are very sensitive to economic trends in the developed world as it determines the demand for their products.
Commodity shares were the hardest hit on Friday morning, with the Resources index more than 1.1% down by midday.
Amongst the heavyweights in the sector, Anglo American [JSE:AGL] lost 3.02% to R271.65, after it was trading at a 52-week high of R286.70 earlier this week. BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] traded 1.77% lower on R339.
After setting new records earlier in the week, the market lost momentum on Thursday afternoon and closed lower, a tendency that was repeated on Friday morning.
The heavyweights in the index, which took the market higher earlier this week and even traded at their own record highs, took a breather on Friday.
By midday the All-share index, which at one stage on Friday morning was well on its way to 50 000 points, traded 0.70% lower on 49 109.
The Top 40-index fell 0.75% to 44 054. The indices were lower from the outset on Friday and lost further ground during morning trade.
The market also lost the important support of Wall St, which closed lower for the second consecutive day. This news put a damper on markets worldwide.
Wall St had a strong record breaking run due to better than expected company results from more than 75% of the companies that reported results for the first quarter.
However, on Thursday Wal-Mart Stores announced disappointing results that sent shock waves through the market.
On Wednesday, Macys, another retail giant in America, announced virtually no sales growth despite higher profits.
This led to fears that American consumer spending is not as strong as it was perceived to be, or that the current upswing in the American economy is facing a slow down.
The growth figures for the first quarter from the eurozone were also weaker than expected, with GDP growth of only 0.2% for the period.
In South Africa commodity producers are very sensitive to economic trends in the developed world as it determines the demand for their products.
Commodity shares were the hardest hit on Friday morning, with the Resources index more than 1.1% down by midday.
Amongst the heavyweights in the sector, Anglo American [JSE:AGL] lost 3.02% to R271.65, after it was trading at a 52-week high of R286.70 earlier this week. BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] traded 1.77% lower on R339.
