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Overnight the
Dow Jones industrial average was down 58.6 points and this morning Asian
markets were lower too.
By 09:24 the JSE all share index was off 1.08%, led by a 1.55% loss for resources, with gold miners 1.02% softer and platinum miners 1.78% weaker. Banks were off 0.98%, financials shed 1.04% and industrials were 0.71% lower.
The rand was bid at R7.64 to the dollar from R7.61 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at $1 174.49 a troy ounce from $1 172.29/oz at the JSE's last close. Platinum was at $1 663.00/oz from $1 650/oz at the JSE's last close.
Dow Jones Newswires reported most Asian markets were sharply lower on Thursday on increasing concerns over the spreading debt crisis in Europe, with Japanese exporters with high exposure to Europe taking a hit from the euro's weakness.
"Flight to safety is the name of the game and anything that smells remotely of risk including Asian currencies is being sold off whilst safe havens such as US Treasuries and the USD are being bought," said Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank in a note to clients. "It is admittedly difficult to see what will reverse this trend and more pain and contagion is expected."
Investors were spooked by riots in Greece in protests against austerity measures, and a warning by Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday that it could cut Portugal's Aa2 sovereign rating by up to two notches further heightened fears about contagion to the rest of Europe.
Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 3.27% on reopening after a three-day holiday, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.7 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 1.8%.
- I-Net Bridge
