Johannesburg - The JSE started the trading session only
slightly softer on Wednesday, despite the aggressive selloff on Wall Street
last night.
At 09:19 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was
down 0.21% to 33,547.54 points. Resources were flat (0.07%), platinum miners gained
0.26%, and gold miners picked up 0.71%.
Banks, however, shed 0.45%, financials dipped 0.24% and
industrials lost 0.38%.
The rand was trading at R7.98 to the US dollar, from R8.00
at the JSE's close on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at $1 658.40 a troy ounce from
$1 634.94/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 596/oz, from
$1 585.70/oz at the previous session.
"We are seeing our markets holding up quite nicely
relative to their international peers," said Ferdi Heyneke, portfolio
manager at Afrifocus Securities. "The main reason is the big selloff we
have seen in recent weeks, particularly in the general resources sector. I
would image that at these lower levels, you will start to see support coming
through."
Asian stock markets were mostly lower on Wednesday. Cyclical
stocks, led by Japanese exporters, dropped sharply as investors were rattled by
negative sentiment, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.83% to 9 458.74 points.
Wednesday's drop marked the seventh straight day of declines for the Nikkei -
its longest losing streak since July, 2009. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped
1.06% to 20 141.47 points.
European stocks were expected to extend steep declines
following the worst falls for some of Europe's equity markets this year in the
previous session as concerns about the eurozone escalate amid rising borrowing
costs for Spain.
London's FTSE 100 was flat at 5 596.60 points at 09:04 local
time.
On Tuesday, US stocks suffered their biggest declines this
year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 1.7% to 12 715.93, in its sharpest
one-day drop since November. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index declined
1.7% to 1 358.59, the biggest tumble for the benchmark in five months. The
Nasdaq Composite lost 1.8% to 2 991.22, falling for the eighth time in 10
trading days.