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JSE ends volatile day slightly lower

Johannesburg - The JSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday in a volatile session that saw the local bourse swerve from losses to gains, with falling commodities adding pressure.

The exchange fared better than some of its global counterparts, however, with the weak rand minimising losses to just over 0.10%, said Kevin Algeo, portfolio manager at Imara SP Reid. By contrast, London's FTSE 100 was 0.77% softer at 17:03 local time.

By 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index fell 0.11%, with resources easing 0.69%, platinum miners falling 0.61% and gold miners dropping 0.85%. Banks slid 1.06% and financials were down 0.36%. Industrials, however, rose 0.57%.

The rand was bid at 6.80 to the dollar from 6.76 at the JSE's close on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at US$1 509.20 a troy ounce from US$1 516.71/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 784/.50oz, from $1 795.50/oz previously.

"It has been a volatile day," Algeo said, noting that the dollar strengthened on expectations that the European Central Bank (ECB) might not raise interest rates as much as the market had anticipated.

An equity dealer said earlier that the ECB had a case for keeping interest rates low after Germany report inflation numbers that came in line with expectations.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that US stocks fell on Wednesday morning as data showed the US trade deficit widened more than expected in March while investors were also disappointed by Walt Disney's first-quarter earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 52 points, or 0.4%, to 12,708.

The declines followed data showing that the US deficit in the international trade of goods and services jumped 6.0% to US$48.18bn from a downwardly revised US$45.44bn the month before. The March deficit exceeded the US$47.5bn shortfall economists had expected, and came as a surge in oil prices to levels last reached during the 2008 spike quickly reversed the modest improvement in the trade gap of late last year.

But the country's trade deficit with China contracted 4.0% to US$18.08bn in March, as exports to the second-largest trading partner posted a much bigger gain than imports. Exports rose 12.8% to US$9.52bn, while imports increased 1.2% to US$27.60bn.

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Rand - Dollar
18.88
+0.3%
Rand - Pound
23.86
+0.2%
Rand - Euro
20.37
+0.3%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.32
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.2%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
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