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Johannesburg - The JSE slumped in morning trade on Tuesday, giving up 620 points as it tracked markets in Asia, which were led by a 10.6% drop in Japan's Nikkei index amid concerns of a potential nuclear disaster.
It followed a further explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan on Tuesday morning.
A trader said that the drop on the local bourse had been expected amid the developments in Japan, which hit local stocks. "Futures are also down, with trade expected to follow its current trend until further clarity upon the US opening later today," she said.
By 10:10 local time, the JSE all-share index was down 2%, with platinum miners falling 2.96% and resources declining 2.42%. Gold counters dropped 1.64%. Industrials lost 1.95% and financials were down 1.39%, along with banks, 1.38% lower.
The rand was bid at R6.87 to the dollar from R6.84 at the JSE's close on Friday. Gold was quoted at $1 416.81 a troy ounce from $1 423.22/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 730/oz from $1 754.50/oz before.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that regional markets were lower, led by the Nikkei, Tokyo's headline stock index, which shed 10.6%. It followed a 6.2% drop on Monday, for a drop of 17.7% so far this week.
Japanese stocks fell sharply, pressured by news of another explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, this time at its No 4 reactor. This was shortly after radiation levels rose sharply as the No 2 reactor suffered an explosion following damage to its suppression pool.
Stock markets in Japan and the rest of Asia were battered after Japan's prime minister, Naoto Kan, said there was a high risk of elevated levels of radiation from the country's crippled nuclear reactors, and urged people within 30 kilometres of the plant to stay indoors.
"What the world is watching right now is whether Tepco's Fukushima nuclear power plant is going to turn into Chernobyl," said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
The Nikkei June futures continued to fall and trading would be suspended if the main contract fell to 7 780 points; recently it was down 14% at 8 160, having briefly fallen below 8 000 for the first time since March 2009. The Osaka Securities Exchange triggered circuit breakers several times to temporarily halt trade.
The Hand Seng Index was down 3.3%; the Kospi dropped 2.4% and the Shanghai Composite lost 1.8%. The Strait Times Index gave up 2.5%.
It followed a further explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan on Tuesday morning.
A trader said that the drop on the local bourse had been expected amid the developments in Japan, which hit local stocks. "Futures are also down, with trade expected to follow its current trend until further clarity upon the US opening later today," she said.
By 10:10 local time, the JSE all-share index was down 2%, with platinum miners falling 2.96% and resources declining 2.42%. Gold counters dropped 1.64%. Industrials lost 1.95% and financials were down 1.39%, along with banks, 1.38% lower.
The rand was bid at R6.87 to the dollar from R6.84 at the JSE's close on Friday. Gold was quoted at $1 416.81 a troy ounce from $1 423.22/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 730/oz from $1 754.50/oz before.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that regional markets were lower, led by the Nikkei, Tokyo's headline stock index, which shed 10.6%. It followed a 6.2% drop on Monday, for a drop of 17.7% so far this week.
Japanese stocks fell sharply, pressured by news of another explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, this time at its No 4 reactor. This was shortly after radiation levels rose sharply as the No 2 reactor suffered an explosion following damage to its suppression pool.
Stock markets in Japan and the rest of Asia were battered after Japan's prime minister, Naoto Kan, said there was a high risk of elevated levels of radiation from the country's crippled nuclear reactors, and urged people within 30 kilometres of the plant to stay indoors.
"What the world is watching right now is whether Tepco's Fukushima nuclear power plant is going to turn into Chernobyl," said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
The Nikkei June futures continued to fall and trading would be suspended if the main contract fell to 7 780 points; recently it was down 14% at 8 160, having briefly fallen below 8 000 for the first time since March 2009. The Osaka Securities Exchange triggered circuit breakers several times to temporarily halt trade.
The Hand Seng Index was down 3.3%; the Kospi dropped 2.4% and the Shanghai Composite lost 1.8%. The Strait Times Index gave up 2.5%.
