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JSE turns negative as Dow weakens

Johannesburg - The JSE closed in the red as the Dow Jones industrial average weakened after US blue chip machinery maker Caterpillar‚ seen as a bellwether for global economic growth‚ delivered worse than expected results on Monday.

Gold shares‚ however‚ improved on the local market as global sentiment weakened and the gold price strengthened.

At 17:00 local time the spot price of gold was $1 424.35/oz‚ up 1.23% on the day.

The JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index closed 0.66% lower at 38 169.13 points‚ with the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index losing 0.76%.

The gold index rallied 1.19%‚ while platinums were 0.66% lower and resources gave up 0.43%.

General retailers were hardest hit on the local bourse‚ down 2.21%‚ followed by financial counters‚ which dipped 0.84%.

Major European markets were mostly down with London’s FTSE 0.26% lower at 16:49 local time. At the same time across the Atlantic‚ the Dow Jones industrial average was 0.40% softer.

“What is really worrying is that we are not seeing sufficient confidence coming back into world markets. Gold stocks rebounded on a higher gold price today‚ but nothing substantial happened that could turn world markets around‚” said Paul Chakaduka‚ trader at Global Trader.

“We have seen fairly weak numbers out of the US today‚ with home sales worse than expected and results from Caterpillar also disappointing. Caterpillar services a lot of mining companies and many analysts use it as a benchmark to measure US economic development‚” he said.

Major stock movers on the JSE included Gold Fields (GFI) adding 2.28% to R62.37 and Gold One International (GDO) jumping 4.52% to R2.08.

Jubilee Platinum (JBL) leapt 4.46% to R1.17‚ while Lonmin (LON) gave up 3.18% at R36.29 and Anglo American Platinum (AMS) was 2.56% weaker at R329.80.

Retailer Massmart (MSM) closed 3.28% lower at R191.99 after it released a trading update on Monday showing sales for the 14 weeks to end March increased 10.3% and comparable sales increased 6.0%‚ continuing the slower sales trends experienced towards the close of the financial year.

Clothing company Mr Price (MPC) ended 2.85% lower at R122.85 and Woolies (WHL) lost 2.38% to R68.50. The JD Group shed 3.48% to R33.30.

Financial services group Sanlam (SLM) dropped 4.18% to R44.65 after going ex dividend and rival Old Mutual PLC (OML) shed 2.81% to R27.37.

Among construction stocks Group Five (GRF) jumped 4.22% to R35.33 and cement manufacturer PPC (PPC) added 1.03% to R34.20.

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Rand - Dollar
18.94
-0.0%
Rand - Pound
23.91
-0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.41
+0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.33
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.0%
Platinum
908.05
+1.2%
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
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Resource 10
57,251
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Industrial 25
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Financial 15
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