Johannesburg - The JSE was awash in red in midday trade on Tuesday, taking its cue from weaker global markets amid continuing concerns about China tightening its bank lending rules.
Lower commodity prices led the decline.
At noon, the JSE all share index was down 1.37%, with resources off 1.92%, platinum miners 3.00% weaker and gold miners declining 2.20%. Banks declined 1.07%, financials were off 0.66% and industrials moved 1.11% lower.
The rand was bid at R7.62 to the dollar from R7.55 when the JSE closed on Monday. Gold was quoted at $1 091.20 a troy ounce from $1 096.46 at the JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1 520.50/oz, from $1 546/oz at the bourse's previous close.
A local equity trader said the decline was in line with global bourses and lower commodity prices. He said players would be watching the outcome of the interest rate decision later. South Africa's repo rate is expected to remain unchanged at 7.0%, according to a survey of leading economists by I-Net Bridge.
However, two of the nine economists hold out hope that a cut of 50 basis points could be in the offing when Gill Marcus makes her second decision as central bank Governor. One economist in the survey feels this will be the first real opportunity for Marcus to show her hand.
Dow Jones Newswires reports European stocks dropped on Tuesday, following Asian equity markets, on continuing concerns about China tightening its bank lending rules. These fears prompted a flight to safety out of stocks and the euro, and into safe havens.
Miners were hit particularly hard, with the DJ Stoxx 600 basic resources sector dropping 1.3%.
By 08:50 GMT, the pan-European DJ Stoxx 600 index was down 0.5% at 247.1. London's FTSE 100 declined 0.7% to 5221.6, Frankfurt's DAX dropped 0.7% to 5594.4 and Paris's CAC-40 was 0.7% lower at 3756.8.
However, some market commentators said the recent downturn in stocks was a positive opportunity and said fears over China were overdone.
A note from Credit Suisse said: "We believe recent market weakness is a buying opportunity. Our tactical indicators are not telling us to sell. Equity sentiment and risk appetite are at neutral levels."
Credit Suisse recommended using worries about China as a buying opportunity on dips for metals and mining and luxury goods stocks.
Meanwhile, Asian stock markets finished lower on Tuesday, as traders remained cautious about the proposed restrictions on US banks as well as the possible limits on lending by China's banks.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.8%, while South Korea's Kospi Composite traded down 2.0%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 2.6% and the mainland's Shanghai Composite lost 2.4%.
The Chinese and Hong Kong markets were hurt by a further fall in bank stocks on growing concerns about domestic lending restrictions.
On Monday, US stocks closed modestly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 10,196.9, snapping a three-session losing streak. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3% to 2210.8. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.5% to 1096.8.
- I-Net Bridge