Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - The JSE ended flat on Monday as the spotlight fell on US economic news that has left investors jittery about growth prospects in the world's largest economy.
The main drag on the market was gold stocks, which fell despite the strong bullion price, said Andrew Todd, an equity derivatives trader at Imara SP Reid, adding that the firmer rand kept the lid on gains in resources.
Todd said he expected volatility to increase ahead of the futures close-out next week.
By 17:00 local time, the JSE all share [JSE:J203] index was flat, with gold miners sliding 1.26% and platinum miners dropping 0.42%. Resources, however, rose 0.23%. Banks fell 0.43%, financials were off 0.25% and industrials were flat (-0.04%).
The rand was last bid at 6.73 to the dollar from 6.72 at the JSE's close on Friday. Gold was quoted at US$1 551.89 a troy ounce from US$1 537.66/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 825.50/oz, from $1 813.50/oz previously.
Todd said that if the local bourse held on to the key technical levels - 31 400 for the all-share index and 28 000 for the top 40 - the market could pull off a bounce. But he warned that investors remained nervous and skittish, given poor US economic data.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that US blue-chip stocks moved lower on Monday morning as investors moved cautiously while also awaiting Apple's developer conference.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 51 points, or 0.4%, to 12 010 in morning trade.
With no major economic news and a mostly bare corporate calendar, there was little to offset continued worries over the state of the US economy. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average is coming off its longest weekly losing streak since 2004 as investors have reined in economic growth expectations.
Financials, the worst-performing S&P 500 sector over the past month, were especially weak. The recent spate of weak economic numbers was still weighing on sentiment at the start of a new week, said Ron Florance, managing director of investment strategy and asset allocation for Wells Fargo Private Bank.
"We probably have a few more weeks to go of this bounciness before we get resolution," he said, given factors like the weak data, gas prices and the Greek debt crisis.
The main drag on the market was gold stocks, which fell despite the strong bullion price, said Andrew Todd, an equity derivatives trader at Imara SP Reid, adding that the firmer rand kept the lid on gains in resources.
Todd said he expected volatility to increase ahead of the futures close-out next week.
By 17:00 local time, the JSE all share [JSE:J203] index was flat, with gold miners sliding 1.26% and platinum miners dropping 0.42%. Resources, however, rose 0.23%. Banks fell 0.43%, financials were off 0.25% and industrials were flat (-0.04%).
The rand was last bid at 6.73 to the dollar from 6.72 at the JSE's close on Friday. Gold was quoted at US$1 551.89 a troy ounce from US$1 537.66/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 825.50/oz, from $1 813.50/oz previously.
Todd said that if the local bourse held on to the key technical levels - 31 400 for the all-share index and 28 000 for the top 40 - the market could pull off a bounce. But he warned that investors remained nervous and skittish, given poor US economic data.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that US blue-chip stocks moved lower on Monday morning as investors moved cautiously while also awaiting Apple's developer conference.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 51 points, or 0.4%, to 12 010 in morning trade.
With no major economic news and a mostly bare corporate calendar, there was little to offset continued worries over the state of the US economy. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average is coming off its longest weekly losing streak since 2004 as investors have reined in economic growth expectations.
Financials, the worst-performing S&P 500 sector over the past month, were especially weak. The recent spate of weak economic numbers was still weighing on sentiment at the start of a new week, said Ron Florance, managing director of investment strategy and asset allocation for Wells Fargo Private Bank.
"We probably have a few more weeks to go of this bounciness before we get resolution," he said, given factors like the weak data, gas prices and the Greek debt crisis.
