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Johannesburg - The JSE was in the red in early trade on Wednesday‚ pulling back after a rally on Tuesday afternoon as a weak rand lifted rand hedge stocks.
At 9:27‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was 0.83% softer at 41 622.41 points‚ with the blue-chip Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index giving back 0.89%.
Platinum shares were the main losers‚ down 1.24% due to continued mining concerns‚ while industrials fell 0.93%‚ giving back Tuesday’s rand-inspired gains.
Gold counters lifted 0.34% on Wednesday morning as the gold price rose. Spot gold was 0.5% firmer at $1 387.52/oz at 9:27.
Top European stock markets were also in negative terrain after good gains on Tuesday‚ with London’s FTSE 100 0.77% softer at 9:12. Asian markets were mixed‚ with Japan’s Nikkei 225 equity index closing up 0.1% and the Hong Kong Hang Seng index 1.38% lower shortly before its close.
A sharp jump in consumer confidence‚ supported by rising US house prices‚ had spurred optimism that the US economy would be in a self-sustaining recovery by 2014‚ Rand Merchant Bank said in a morning note.
“There is nothing major today on the international events and data calendar‚ leaving the rand market to trade off the dollar moves and local sentiment‚” RMB said.
“The rand and rates were taken aback by the large negative surprise for first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) yesterday.
“Growth declined sharply‚ from 2.1% in the fourth quarter of last year to a mere 0.9%. When the technical rebound in mining is excluded‚ then GDP edged up only 0.1% during the quarter.
“The negative surprises came from agriculture‚ manufacturing‚ construction and the government sectors. The core of the private-sector services sectors performed in line with our expectations‚ albeit still below trend‚” the bank said.
Among individual shares on the JSE‚ Anglo American (AGL) was down 1.43% at R224.77 and Sasol (SOL) fell 1.23% to R443.
In rand hedge stocks‚ British American Tobacco (BTI) retreated 1.57% to R549.57 and luxury goods maker Richemont (CFR) slid 1.6% to R91.03‚ after solid gains on Tuesday due to a weak rand environment.
Gold counters Gold Fields (GFI) gained 1.27% to R56.01 and Sibanye (SGL) edged up 0.27% to R7.47.
Impala Platinum (IMP) was trading 1.75% softer at R98.10 and Northam Platinum (NHM) was 1.43% weaker at R34.50.
Packaging group Nampak (NPK) lost a further 1.05% to R32.19‚ after plummeting more than 12% on Tuesday when it reported a 3% improvement in headline earnings per share to 108.8c for the six months ended March.
