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Johannesburg - The JSE ended lower on Wednesday as investors waited anxiously for the US Federal Reserve meeting, which gets underway later today. Only gold counters shone in the trading session, while European stocks generally were firmer.
Weighing negatively on the local market sentiments were persistent concerns about the debt crisis in Greece and SA's disappointing inflation data, said Dimitri Mitropapas, a stock broker at PSG Konsult.
By 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.58%, with resources falling 0.33% and platinum miners dropping 1.64%. Industrials also lost 0.74%, financials eased 0.83% and banks were 1.24% lower. Elsewhere, gold miners firmed 1.13%.
The rand was last bid at 6.72 to the dollar from 6.73 at the JSE's close on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at US$1 556.76 a troy ounce from US$1 546.25/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 752.50/oz, from $1 745.70/oz previously.
Mitropapas said poor consumer price index (CPI) figures, which were released earlier today, hit consumer, industrial and banking stocks alike. He said the market expected the US Federal Reserve to make an announcement on quantitative easing.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that US stocks pared early declines as investors cheered a modest boost in home prices and encouraging remarks from FedEx ahead of the day's Federal Reserve announcement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off six points, or 0.1%, to 12 185 in morning trading.
Wednesday's economic calendar was dominated by the US Federal Reserve's policy statement, scheduled for release at 12:30 EDT, which will be followed at 14:15 EDT by chairman Ben Bernanke's press conference and question-and-answer session. In a speech earlier this month, Bernanke said economic growth so far this year had been "somewhat slower than expected", and that the recovery had been "frustratingly slow" from the perspective of millions of unemployed and underemployed workers.
Weighing negatively on the local market sentiments were persistent concerns about the debt crisis in Greece and SA's disappointing inflation data, said Dimitri Mitropapas, a stock broker at PSG Konsult.
By 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.58%, with resources falling 0.33% and platinum miners dropping 1.64%. Industrials also lost 0.74%, financials eased 0.83% and banks were 1.24% lower. Elsewhere, gold miners firmed 1.13%.
The rand was last bid at 6.72 to the dollar from 6.73 at the JSE's close on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at US$1 556.76 a troy ounce from US$1 546.25/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 752.50/oz, from $1 745.70/oz previously.
Mitropapas said poor consumer price index (CPI) figures, which were released earlier today, hit consumer, industrial and banking stocks alike. He said the market expected the US Federal Reserve to make an announcement on quantitative easing.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that US stocks pared early declines as investors cheered a modest boost in home prices and encouraging remarks from FedEx ahead of the day's Federal Reserve announcement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off six points, or 0.1%, to 12 185 in morning trading.
Wednesday's economic calendar was dominated by the US Federal Reserve's policy statement, scheduled for release at 12:30 EDT, which will be followed at 14:15 EDT by chairman Ben Bernanke's press conference and question-and-answer session. In a speech earlier this month, Bernanke said economic growth so far this year had been "somewhat slower than expected", and that the recovery had been "frustratingly slow" from the perspective of millions of unemployed and underemployed workers.
