Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - The JSE extended losses at noon on
Friday, with banking and general mining shares leading the downside amid
profit taking.
Telkom's share price continued to slide over market speculation that South Korea's KT Corporation may drop its offer to acquire a 20% stake in the country's largest fixed line operator. The deal is estimated to be worth around R4.8bn.
However, Santam's stock price provided a bright spot as it continued to rally. The short-term insurer declared a special dividend of 850 cents per share this week.
At noon local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was off 0.66% to 34 070.53 points, with gold miners 1.06% weaker, resources down 0.83% and platinum miners shedding 1.20%.
Banks dropped 1.27%, with industrials down 0.53%, and financials 0.71% in the red.
The rand was at 7.48 to the US dollar, from 7.49 at the JSE's close on Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1 713.42 a troy ounce from $1 709.08/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 701.50/oz, from $1 687/oz.
"There isn't anything outstanding that one can attach to the pullback we are seeing at the moment. The spot price of Brent crude over the US$127 per barrel remains a concern for investors and global economic growth," said David Shapiro, director at Sasfin Securities.
European stock markets traded cautiously higher on Friday with banks and utilities posting strong gains on Goldman Sachs' bullish call on both sectors, but gains were tempered by the ongoing European Union leaders' summit and weak economic data from the region, Dow Jones Newswires reports.
London's FTSE 100 index was down 0.12% to 5 923.91 at noon local time.
Banks and utilities stocks rose after Goldman Sachs raised both sectors to overweight from neutral.
For banks, Goldman said despite the recent strong performance, there was more upside for the sector. "The (European Central Bank's) long-term refinancing operation (LTRO) funding has improved liquidity and will help sector pre-provision profits, while banks still trade at a reasonable multiple of book value," said Goldman.
Despite the brighter message by Goldman, investors demonstrated reluctance to build gains as the second day of the EU leaders summit resumes on Friday.
Eurozone finance ministers said on Thursday they were ready to give Greece money from a new bailout - provided a bond swap that will cut the debt Greece owes its private creditors by more than €100bn goes according to plan in the coming week.
In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended 0.8% up, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.4% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.7%.
Telkom's share price continued to slide over market speculation that South Korea's KT Corporation may drop its offer to acquire a 20% stake in the country's largest fixed line operator. The deal is estimated to be worth around R4.8bn.
However, Santam's stock price provided a bright spot as it continued to rally. The short-term insurer declared a special dividend of 850 cents per share this week.
At noon local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was off 0.66% to 34 070.53 points, with gold miners 1.06% weaker, resources down 0.83% and platinum miners shedding 1.20%.
Banks dropped 1.27%, with industrials down 0.53%, and financials 0.71% in the red.
The rand was at 7.48 to the US dollar, from 7.49 at the JSE's close on Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1 713.42 a troy ounce from $1 709.08/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 701.50/oz, from $1 687/oz.
"There isn't anything outstanding that one can attach to the pullback we are seeing at the moment. The spot price of Brent crude over the US$127 per barrel remains a concern for investors and global economic growth," said David Shapiro, director at Sasfin Securities.
European stock markets traded cautiously higher on Friday with banks and utilities posting strong gains on Goldman Sachs' bullish call on both sectors, but gains were tempered by the ongoing European Union leaders' summit and weak economic data from the region, Dow Jones Newswires reports.
London's FTSE 100 index was down 0.12% to 5 923.91 at noon local time.
Banks and utilities stocks rose after Goldman Sachs raised both sectors to overweight from neutral.
For banks, Goldman said despite the recent strong performance, there was more upside for the sector. "The (European Central Bank's) long-term refinancing operation (LTRO) funding has improved liquidity and will help sector pre-provision profits, while banks still trade at a reasonable multiple of book value," said Goldman.
Despite the brighter message by Goldman, investors demonstrated reluctance to build gains as the second day of the EU leaders summit resumes on Friday.
Eurozone finance ministers said on Thursday they were ready to give Greece money from a new bailout - provided a bond swap that will cut the debt Greece owes its private creditors by more than €100bn goes according to plan in the coming week.
In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended 0.8% up, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.4% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.7%.
