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Johannesburg - The JSE ended sharply lower on
Monday as weak economic data and political uncertainty in the eurozone
weighed heavily on global investor sentiment.
The lacklustre Chinese preliminary manufacturing data also added to the negative undertone.
At 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 1.50% to 33 703.21 points, with resources shedding 1.95%, platinum shares losing 1.35% and gold counters coming off 1.10%.
Financials were 1.66% in the red, as were banking stocks, down 2.30%, while industrials lost 1.13%.
The rand was trading at 7.85 to the US dollar, from 7.80 at the JSE's close on Friday. Gold was quoted at $1 631.99 a troy ounce from $1 640.31/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 557.50/oz, from $1 580.50/oz at the previous session.
"The selloff was broad based in our markets although the resources and banks sector took the most pounding on the combination of the euro area concerns and Chinese data," said Hennie Fourie, stockbroker at PSG Konsult.
US stocks followed European markets lower on Monday as weak eurozone economic data and increasing political uncertainty in France and Holland unnerved investors, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The data showed that the eurozone's private sector contracted the most in five months in April. The preliminary purchasing managers' index for the eurozone fell to 47.4 in April from 49.1 in March.
French opposition candidate Francois Hollande advanced to the second round of the country's presidential election and captured a larger share of first-round votes than incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, who also progressed. Until now, France has conformed to the German austerity recipe for tackling the region's economic crisis, but Hollande has urged France's neighbours to spend more to achieve growth.
Separately, Dutch budget talks fell apart, raising questions about whether the country will keep its AAA credit rating.
At 16:52 local time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.21% to 12 871.43 points local time.
The lacklustre Chinese preliminary manufacturing data also added to the negative undertone.
At 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 1.50% to 33 703.21 points, with resources shedding 1.95%, platinum shares losing 1.35% and gold counters coming off 1.10%.
Financials were 1.66% in the red, as were banking stocks, down 2.30%, while industrials lost 1.13%.
The rand was trading at 7.85 to the US dollar, from 7.80 at the JSE's close on Friday. Gold was quoted at $1 631.99 a troy ounce from $1 640.31/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 557.50/oz, from $1 580.50/oz at the previous session.
"The selloff was broad based in our markets although the resources and banks sector took the most pounding on the combination of the euro area concerns and Chinese data," said Hennie Fourie, stockbroker at PSG Konsult.
US stocks followed European markets lower on Monday as weak eurozone economic data and increasing political uncertainty in France and Holland unnerved investors, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The data showed that the eurozone's private sector contracted the most in five months in April. The preliminary purchasing managers' index for the eurozone fell to 47.4 in April from 49.1 in March.
French opposition candidate Francois Hollande advanced to the second round of the country's presidential election and captured a larger share of first-round votes than incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, who also progressed. Until now, France has conformed to the German austerity recipe for tackling the region's economic crisis, but Hollande has urged France's neighbours to spend more to achieve growth.
Separately, Dutch budget talks fell apart, raising questions about whether the country will keep its AAA credit rating.
At 16:52 local time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.21% to 12 871.43 points local time.
