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Johannesburg - The uncertainty on the JSE continued on Friday morning, but is was financial shares which were the biggest losers this time as investors wait for updates on the South African economy by two important international credit rating agencies later on Friday.
At one stage the financial index was more than 1% lower, but regained some of its losses just before midday and traded 0.94% lower.
At midday the All-share index was also 0.60% lower on 47 821 points and the Top-40 index lost 0.64% to 42 167 points. The fact that the All-share index is now below 48 000 points means that this index is now about 8% lower than it recent high a few months ago of just more than 52 000 points.
At that stage the industrial index was 0.6% weaker, while the resources-index was only 0.32% weaker as some of the biggest losers of the last few days, including Sasol [JSE:SOL] and BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL], are trying to establish a foothold.
Share prices were fluctuating quite a lot on Friday morning, which is an indication of nervousness before Fitch and Standard 'n Poor's release their latest reviews on the South African economy. These reviews will give an indication if there are more credit down gradings down the line and it seems if the market is bracing itself for more bad news.
Banks in particular have a strong interest in what the agencies have to say, as the country's credit rating will also impact on their own.
By midday on Friday FirstRand [JSE:FSR] was 1.36% lower on R47.92, while Nedbank [JSE:NED] lost 1.25% to R230.17. Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] was 1.41% weaker on R134.77. The rand was also hovering around R11.52 for the dollar.
The same factors that influenced the market the last couple of days still dampened the mood on Friday. The oil price dropped even further, the latest economic news from China is still negative and there are even new concerns about Greece, whose financial crisis started the debt crisis in Europe.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras warned on Thursday the country risked a "catastrophic" return to the depths of its debt crisis if his government fell, raising the stakes before a presidential vote this month.
"Greece is rearing its ugly head again. It's not good for the eurozone," said Darren Courtney-Cook, head of trading at Central Markets Investment Management.
Continued concerns about the weak demand and over production of oil continued to put pressure on the oil price with the price of Brent dropping to only $63 per barrel. The price of US crude even fell below $60 per barrel and that hurt the prices of petroleum stocks.
The share prices of Sasol and BHP Billiton, the two companies on the JSE with the biggest interest in the oil price, fluctuated quite a lot this morning.
Sasol traded at one stage on Friday morning at R398.89, which is about 1% higher than yesterday close, but by midday the share was again at a new 52 week low of R392.09 which is 0.60% lower. BHP Billiton was by midday only 0.32% higher than Thursday, but was initially further down before a modest recovery.
The sorry state of the resources sector is best illustrated by the fact that the two biggest resources companies, Anglo American [JSE:AGL] and BHP Billiton, are now hovering around 52-week lows after trading at 52-week highs a couple of months ago.
Anglo American dropped to a 52-week low on Thursday afternoon and lost another 0.28% on Friday to R210.25 after trading as recently as July this year at a year high of R295.56. Anglo lost almost 24% over the last three months.
The resources sector is now about a third lower than earlier the year when the index reached the level of 60 000 points and it is now just above 40 000 points.
