Johannesburg - The JSE opened lower on Friday following US
and Asian markets, which closed and opened down respectively, a local trader
said.
At 09:16 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was
down 0.26% to 34,019.18 points. Resources eased by 0.36%, financials were down
0.27% and industrials were 0.20% lower.
Platinums were 0.34% higher, gold shares were 0.22% better
off, and banks were up 0.16%.
The rand was trading at R7.81 to the US dollar, from R7.83
at the JSE's close on Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1 643.16 a troy ounce from
$1 649.60/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 575/oz, from
$1 582/oz at the previous session.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that Asian Stocks dropped on
Friday as disappointing US economic data depressed demand, with Korean and
Japanese exporters underperforming on concerns about the global growth outlook.
"While stronger-than-expected US data has been the
common theme in recent times, a general lack of continuity continues to plague
the market with little in the way of solid evidence to suggest the economy is
on a sustained upside trajectory," said Chris Gore, Melbourne-based
currency analyst at GO Markets, in a note.
Thursday's downbeat US housing, jobless claims and
manufacturing data raised anxiety about the outlook for the world's largest
economy, eclipsing stronger-than-expected US earnings, a positive Spanish bond
auction and improved prospects for the International Monetary Fund's resources
to expand.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.4%, Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.2%, South Korea's Kospi Composite was off 1.2% and New
Zealand's NZX-50 was down 0.4%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up four points in
screen trade.
Many regional exporter stocks and industrials lost ground as
investors continued to fret about the global growth outlook, with recent
concerns about a slowdown in China's economy and the string of soft US data
hobbling equities.
In Tokyo, Toyota Motor fell 0.6%, Canon was off 0.5% and
Fanuc dropped 0.5%, while in Seoul Samsung Electronics declined 1.9%,
steelmaker Posco fell 1.1% and Hyundai Motor lost 1.2%.
"April continues to be a tough month for investors, but
after a stellar January-March quarter, that is to be expected to some
degree," said Mattia Ciancaleoni, director of equity sales at Citigroup
Global Markets Japan.