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Johannesburg - The JSE ended firmly in negative territory on Monday, but off the session's lows.
The local exchange followed the weaker trend on the main global stocks amid fears that Greece might default on its debt obligations.
The JSE was more than 2% down at one stage before recovering some of the losses.
By 17:00 local time, the JSE All-share [JSE:J203] index had lost 1.43% with a strong decline seen in platinum stocks, which fell 3.01%. Financials fell 0.98% and industrials shed 1.81%. Resources gave up 1.21%, while banks lost 0.66%.
Gold miners were down 0.18%.
The rand weakened to 7.39, from 7.27 at the JSE's close on Friday. Gold was quoted at $1 832.71 a troy ounce from $1 848.05 at the JSE's previous close, while platinum eased off to $1 816.50/oz, from $1 833.50/oz previously.
Ian Cruickshanks, market watcher at Nedbank Capital, said: "There seems to be no strategy on the table to deal decisively with the faltering global economic recovery. A meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven leading economies over the weekend achieved very little other than to acknowledge the problem."
Dow Jones Newswires reported that fears that Europe's debt crisis would soon come to a head drove US stocks lower on Monday, sending blue chips closer to their 2011 lows.
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet on Monday called on Greece with "great firmness" to implement its fiscal reforms, as he said that central bankers stand ready to inject liquidity into financial markets if needed.
The continent's bank shares took the biggest beating. French lenders were hit hardest on expectations that Moody's Investors Service could downgrade them this week due to their holdings of Greek government debt.
The economic calendar was bare on Monday, but investors will be looking ahead to wholesale inflation and retail sales data on Wednesday, retail inflation and jobless claims on Thursday and consumer sentiment on Friday.
The local exchange followed the weaker trend on the main global stocks amid fears that Greece might default on its debt obligations.
The JSE was more than 2% down at one stage before recovering some of the losses.
By 17:00 local time, the JSE All-share [JSE:J203] index had lost 1.43% with a strong decline seen in platinum stocks, which fell 3.01%. Financials fell 0.98% and industrials shed 1.81%. Resources gave up 1.21%, while banks lost 0.66%.
Gold miners were down 0.18%.
The rand weakened to 7.39, from 7.27 at the JSE's close on Friday. Gold was quoted at $1 832.71 a troy ounce from $1 848.05 at the JSE's previous close, while platinum eased off to $1 816.50/oz, from $1 833.50/oz previously.
Ian Cruickshanks, market watcher at Nedbank Capital, said: "There seems to be no strategy on the table to deal decisively with the faltering global economic recovery. A meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven leading economies over the weekend achieved very little other than to acknowledge the problem."
Dow Jones Newswires reported that fears that Europe's debt crisis would soon come to a head drove US stocks lower on Monday, sending blue chips closer to their 2011 lows.
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet on Monday called on Greece with "great firmness" to implement its fiscal reforms, as he said that central bankers stand ready to inject liquidity into financial markets if needed.
The continent's bank shares took the biggest beating. French lenders were hit hardest on expectations that Moody's Investors Service could downgrade them this week due to their holdings of Greek government debt.
The economic calendar was bare on Monday, but investors will be looking ahead to wholesale inflation and retail sales data on Wednesday, retail inflation and jobless claims on Thursday and consumer sentiment on Friday.
