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Poor economic data weigh on JSE

Johannesburg - The JSE posted modest losses on Tuesday as global sentiments dampened the mood.

Globally, disappointing economic data from the US retail sales, China's inflation data and euro-zone gross domestic product figures were the main reasons for a mild sell-off on the local exchange, said Kevin Algeo, portfolio manager at Imara SP Reid.

At the close, the JSE all-share index was 0.10% lower, with platinum miners flat (-0.05%) and resources falling 0.19%. But gold counters rose 1.50%. Banks fell 0.39%, while financials (-0.02%) and industrials (-0.04%) were virtually unchanged.

The rand was trading at 7.27 to the dollar from 7.28 at the JSE's close on Monday. Gold was quoted at US$1 373.30 a troy ounce from US$1 365.30/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 840.50/oz from $1 834.50 before.

Gold stocks rallied following firmer prices of the yellow metal, Algeo said. But telecommunications counters, especially MTN Group [JSE:MTN] and Vodacom Group [JSE:VOD], fell in line with their global counterparts.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that US stocks fell on Tuesday following a weaker-than-expected rise in US retail sales and a bigger-than-expected increase in US import prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 48 points, or 0.4%, to 12 222.

The declines came as investors were disappointed by data showing US retail sales rose just 0.3% in January, smaller than the 0.6% rise economists had expected.

Also concerning the market, US import prices rose much more than expected in January as costs increased for energy, food, and industrial supplies. The price of goods imported to the US climbed by 1.5% in January from the month before. Economists had expected a 0.8% price increase in January.

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Rand - Dollar
18.92
+0.1%
Rand - Pound
23.88
+0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.38
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.32
+0.2%
Rand - Yen
0.13
+0.1%
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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