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JSE tracks world stocks weaker

Johannesburg - The JSE opened lower on Friday, tracking negative global investor sentiment, with JP Morgan Chase's trading losses adding another layer of uncertainty in already volatile equity markets.

At 09:17 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.31% to 33 764.51 points, with resources losing 1.01%, platinum miners dropping 1.17% and gold counters shedding 0.80%.

Financials were flat (-0.07%), while banking stocks were off 0.41% and industrials were fairly flat (0.08%).

The rand weakened to 8.08 to the US dollar, from 8.00 at the JSE's close on Thursday, while gold was quoted at $1 580.10 a troy ounce from $1 596.21/oz at the JSE's previous close and platinum was at $1 470.50/oz, from $1 492.20/oz at the previous session.

"On balance, I think our markets are holding up well, including the banking stocks. I think the negative sentiment around the JP Morgan Chase story is just a kneejerk reaction that will pass over time," said a local trader.

Asian markets fell on Friday as the surprise loss from JP Morgan Chase bruised sentiment, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Japan's Nikkei was down 0.63%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 1.44%.

Investors have been spooked by JP Morgan's surprise announcement of losses at its investment arm late on Thursday. The bank's chief executive said in a hastily arranged post-close conference call that JP Morgan booked $2 billion in trading losses in the past six weeks and could face an additional $1 billion in second-quarter losses due to market volatility.

European stock markets also opened lower, with UK's FTSE 100 index losing 0.57% to 5 512.30 points at 9:02 local time.
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Rand - Dollar
18.89
+0.3%
Rand - Pound
23.87
+0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.39
+0.2%
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%
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