Johannesburg - The JSE share market pared early losses to finish relatively flat on Wednesday.
Resource shares in the main came under selling pressure amid diminished prospects of stimulus measures from the US Federal Reserve following the upward revision of growth in the US economy in the second quarter‚ said Rob Towell‚ senior equities trader at Consilium Securities.
US GDP grew 1.7% in the second quarter over the previous quarter‚ up from an original reading of 1.5%.
“The July US pending home sales also surprised on the upside‚” he said.
Market participants worldwide are looking to the US Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech at Jackson Hole on Friday for some clues on stimulus measures.
On the plus sign though‚ retail shares continued to attract strong buying interest‚ with Shoprite Holding
[JSE:SHP] reaching a fresh all-time record.
At 5pm‚ the JSE all-share index ended 0.09% softer at 35 737.18 points.
Among individual shares‚ Anglo American
[JSE:AGL] was down 2.10% to R243.17 and Lonmin
[JSE:LON] lost 4.36% to R81.10.
Exxaro
[JSE:EXX] dropped 4.30% to R157.90 and Kumba Iron Ore
[JSE:KIO] lost 3.96% to R515.
Volatile telecoms group Telkom
[JSE:TKG] was off 4.65% to R19.90‚ while the banking group Capitec
[JSE:CPI] erased 4.02% to R215.
Construction stock Basil Read Holdings
[JSE:BSR] was down 5.56% to R8.49‚ while Retailer Shoprite Holdings rallied 3.18% to R171.