JSE down 2% as euphoria fades

Johannesburg - South African stocks slid more than 2% in early deals on Thursday following declines overseas as the euphoria of Barack Obama's US presidential win fades and investors refocus attention on the gloomy global economic outlook, traders said.

"Yesterday's exceptionally poor performance by US equities clearly confirms that although markets have in large measure taken note of the poor economic environment, there will still be losses in the months ahead," analysts at Imara SP Reid said.

Local players also chewed up another batch of earnings and corporate news from blue chip stocks such paper maker Sappi, life insurer Old Mutual and short-term insurer Mutual & Federal.

At 9:11, the all share index was off 2.41%, or 505.720 points, lower at 20 445.260. Resources tumbled 3.51% while the gold and platinum mining indices slumped 3.24% and 4.27% respectively. Banks slipped 2.01%, financials lost 1.64% and industrials gave up 1.75%.

The rand was bid at R9.86 to the dollar from R9.65 when the JSE closed on Wednesday, while gold was last quoted at $738.85 a troy ounce from $755.65/oz at the JSE's last close.

The platinum price was at $856/oz, down from its previous close of $861.50/oz and Brent crude was at $60.95 from its close of $61.87.

Dow Jones Newswires reports US stock futures are lower on Thursday, after markets plunged on Wednesday and major indexes finished with their worst losses since October 22 as sellers unloaded financial stocks as more economic data pointed to recession.

Asian markets also tumbled on Thursday amid global economic worries, with China's main stock index dropping to a level it hasn't seen in more than two years, while benchmarks in Japan and Hong Kong slumped more than 5%. Tokyo's Nikkei ended 6.53%, or 622.10 points, at 8 899.14.

- I-Net Bridge