Johannesburg - The JSE opened lower for the third straight session on Friday due to concerns over the US economy, the eurozone debt troubles and a warning from Moody's Investors Service on the US government's debt rating.
By 09:21 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was
down 0.57%, with resources dropping 1.11%, platinum miners falling 1.81% and
gold miners easing 1.20%. Industrials shed 0.28% and financials were 0.14% lower.
But banks were flat (0.09%).
The rand was last bid at R6.70 to the dollar from R6.75 at
the JSE's close on Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1 528.57 a troy ounce from $1
526.68/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 809.70/oz, from
$1 812.70/oz previously.
A trader said the local market was tracking the world
stocks, which were still looking fragile. "There hasn't been good news to
boost the market and investors are nervous," the trader said.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that Asian stock markets were
mixed on Friday on caution ahead of a key US jobs report, with LG Electronics
losing ground in Seoul on concerns about its earnings outlook, while new
listings in Hong Kong attracted strong demand.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.5%, Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 was flat, South Korea's Kospi Composite was flat, Hong Kong's
Hang Seng Index fell 0.3% and China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.9%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 22 points in
screen trade.
Regional sentiment was largely subdued as investors remained
cautious amid global economic outlook concerns following a recent series of
soft regional manufacturing reports and decidedly weak US data. Attention in
the markets is now focused on the US nonfarm payrolls data for May due later in
the global day.
In foreign-exchange markets, hopes for a new Greek financing
plan kept euro-bears at bay, while the US dollar traded in a tight range as
investors awaited cues from the US jobs data.
The dollar was further undermined on Thursday after Moody's Investors Service warned it might place the US government's debt rating under review for a possible downgrade as early as next month if there was no progress toward a deal in Washington to increase the $14.294 trillion federal borrowing limit and cut deficits.