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Johannesburg - General mining stocks pulled the JSE to an eight-week intraday low on Tuesday‚ with the Italian poll gridlock shaking world stock markets.
At 12:45 the All Share [JSE:J203] index was 0.78% weaker at 39 479.40 points‚ with the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index losing 0.83% and resources dropping 1.46%.
“The market is significantly weaker on the back of the Italian election news. The narrow margin between candidates equates to an inability for either party to form a significant majority and in turn pass legislature such as austerity measures. The election stalemate bears an uncanny resemblance to the last Greek election and we are seeing similar fears echo through markets as a result‚” said Shaun Murison‚ market analyst at IG SA.
At 13:24 the platinum spot price lost its premium to gold to trade at $1 594 per ounce‚ down 0.81%‚ while gold was flat at $1 594.45 per ounce.
Major European markets were all on the back foot‚ with London’s FTSE 100 down 1.35% at 13:10.
Stockbroker at 28 E Capital‚ Lavan Gopaul‚ said the Italian poll cliffhanger provided the convenient excuse for market players to exit their positions after making good gains.
On the JSE‚ global resources giant BHP Billiton (BIL) was 2.17% weaker at R278.10‚ Anglo American (AGL) was down 1.79% to R262.16 and Aquarius Platinum (AQP) fell 2.37% to R7.83. Sibanye Gold (SGL)‚ however‚ recovered 3.34% to 13.60 after the newly-listed gold miner confirmed that partial production had resumed at the Beatrix 4 Shaft following a fire on February 20.
African Rainbow Minerals (ARI) was down 2.40% to R188.35 after the diversified miner reported a 30% drop in headline earnings to R1.41bn in the six months to December.
Bidvest (BVT) gave up 2.74% to R239.04 and Investec plc (INP) lost 2.03% to R64.83.
