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JSE slides at close, led by miners

Johannesburg - The JSE slid at the close of trade on Friday, led by general mining counters, amid global risk aversion.

At 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 1.10% to 33 892.58 points, with the resource counters sliding 1.99%; the gold index dipped 0.27% and platinum shares lost 1.44%.

Industrials edged down 0.42%, financials slid 1.13%, and banks tumbled 1.61%.

The rand weakened to 7.74 to the dollar from 7.58 at the JSE's close on Thursday. Gold dipped to $1 712.79 a troy ounce from at $1 749.30/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum eased to $1 641/oz, from $1 669/oz before.

"Foreigners continue to sell shares and bonds, which is reflected in the rand/dollar weakness. Greece's debt trouble remains the catalyst," said Graham Ledbitter, portfolio manager at BoE Private Clients Services.

Drikus Combrinck, portfolio manager at PSG Konsult, said the rand/dollar weakness related to Saturday's expected announcement.

SA markets are abuzz with expectations after the Reserve Bank on Friday afternoon scheduled a press conference to make an announcement of "national importance".

The presidency, the Ministry of Finance and the South African Reserve Bank will make the announcement jointly at the SARB headquarters in Pretoria at 15:00 on Saturday.

President Jacob Zuma, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and the Governor of the SARB, Gill Marcus will all be in attendance.

US stocks fell as concerns over whether Greece will be able to receive bailout funds prompted a pullback following the recent string of gains, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

European markets were also broadly lower. Eurozone finance ministers didn't approve a second bailout that Greece needs to stay afloat, saying Greece's parliament must first approve the new austerity measures before they will sign off on the loan deal.
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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%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
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