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Johannesburg - The JSE had trimmed some of its losses by noon on Thursday, but sour economic news from the US continued to weigh on sentiments.
Investors were waiting for more US economic data later in the day for direction, an equity strategist said.
By 12:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index had fallen 1.11%, with platinum miners easing 1.70%, gold miners off 1.03% and resources shedding 1.61%. Industrials dropped 0.82%, financials slid 0.81% and banks lost 1.00%.
The rand was last bid at 6.77 to the dollar from 6.76 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at US$1 541.91 a troy ounce from US$1 545.22/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 824.20/oz, from $1 832/oz previously.
Explaining the sell-off this morning, the equity strategist said traders expected a break-out on the upside yesterday, but this did not materialise because poor economic news from the US dampened these expectations. This created selling pressure this morning, which slowed down at about 10:00, he said.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that European stocks fell sharply on Thursday, while the euro tumbled, with Greek sovereign debt fears coming back to the fore and recent economic data signalling that the recovery of developed economies may not be as robust as thought.
Investors are concerned that Friday's US nonfarm payrolls data - seen by many as an accurate measure of US economic health - will disappoint, following a slew of downbeat fundamentals in recent weeks.
On Wednesday, the US Institute of Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing report, US May auto sales and ADP employment data were all worse than expected.
"Yesterday's ADP reading was indeed a shocker," said Vadim Hilliard-Googlenko, head of UK sales at TKB Capital.
"Add to that a mixed picture of the gloomy underlying jobs situation and strong corporate earnings and you tend to conclude that corporates may be getting keen on using their cash on snazzy M&A deals, shutting internal growth through hiring. Add to that the 'wild card' of the QE2-shop [quantitative easing] getting shut and you will get enough for many to press the sell button."
By 07:45 GMT, the Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.9% at 275.80. London's FTSE 100 was down 1.0% at 5 870.65, Frankfurt's DAX tumbled 1.2% to 7 127.87 and Paris's CAC-40 was 1.2% lower at 3 915.45.
Investors were waiting for more US economic data later in the day for direction, an equity strategist said.
By 12:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index had fallen 1.11%, with platinum miners easing 1.70%, gold miners off 1.03% and resources shedding 1.61%. Industrials dropped 0.82%, financials slid 0.81% and banks lost 1.00%.
The rand was last bid at 6.77 to the dollar from 6.76 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at US$1 541.91 a troy ounce from US$1 545.22/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 824.20/oz, from $1 832/oz previously.
Explaining the sell-off this morning, the equity strategist said traders expected a break-out on the upside yesterday, but this did not materialise because poor economic news from the US dampened these expectations. This created selling pressure this morning, which slowed down at about 10:00, he said.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that European stocks fell sharply on Thursday, while the euro tumbled, with Greek sovereign debt fears coming back to the fore and recent economic data signalling that the recovery of developed economies may not be as robust as thought.
Investors are concerned that Friday's US nonfarm payrolls data - seen by many as an accurate measure of US economic health - will disappoint, following a slew of downbeat fundamentals in recent weeks.
On Wednesday, the US Institute of Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing report, US May auto sales and ADP employment data were all worse than expected.
"Yesterday's ADP reading was indeed a shocker," said Vadim Hilliard-Googlenko, head of UK sales at TKB Capital.
"Add to that a mixed picture of the gloomy underlying jobs situation and strong corporate earnings and you tend to conclude that corporates may be getting keen on using their cash on snazzy M&A deals, shutting internal growth through hiring. Add to that the 'wild card' of the QE2-shop [quantitative easing] getting shut and you will get enough for many to press the sell button."
By 07:45 GMT, the Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.9% at 275.80. London's FTSE 100 was down 1.0% at 5 870.65, Frankfurt's DAX tumbled 1.2% to 7 127.87 and Paris's CAC-40 was 1.2% lower at 3 915.45.
