Johannesburg - The JSE painted a somewhat bleak picture on Thursday morning as Greece continued to toy with global market sentiment.
A local dealer said that the outlook appeared decidedly negative. "We have endured such a rollercoaster ride on the back of this Greek debacle."
By 09:21 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index dropped 0.82% with resources off 1.57% and platinum shipped 1.53%. Gold stocks shed 0.38%.
Industrials lost 0.41%, financials slipped 0.39%, and banks fell 0.65%.
The rand was bid at R8.06 to the dollar, from R7.96 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold traded at $1 729.04 a troy ounce from $1 743.30/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 591.70/oz, from $1 614.50/oz previously.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that European stocks were set to open lower on Thursday, with investors nervous about the possibility that Greece might exit the euro and ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) rate decision and Group of 20 meeting, said Harley Salt at IG Markets.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Greece on Wednesday the referendum would effectively be a vote on whether the Greek people want to remain in the eurozone. "The prospect of the euro losing its first member is very much in play," said Salt.
UK purchasing managers' index services were at 09:30 GMT, the ECB rate announcement was at 12:45 GMT and initial jobless claims and industrial new orders were at 12:30 GMT and 14:00 GMT.
In Asia markets were mostly lower as increasing uncertainty around the European sovereign debt crisis and the implications of Greece's call for a referendum vote on the recently agreed upon EU bailout package weighed on sentiment. The Hang Seng Index was down 2.18%, the Kospi declined 1.5%, and the Sensex was down 0.8%.
The Shanghai Composite added 0.6% and markets in Japan were shut for a holiday.