Johannesburg - Taking direction from a fall in
Asia, the JSE opened 272 points weaker on Monday with general miners leading
the downside.
A local trader said after the good gains last week, profit taking was
likely to be seen on the market.
At 09:16, the JSE all share index was down 1.08%, with resources giving
up 1.31%, platinum miners losing 1.61% and gold miners edging down 0.23%.
Banks were down 1.13%, financials weakened 0.86% and industrials were
down 0.94%.
The rand was bid at 7.80 to the dollar, from 7.73 when the JSE closed on
Friday. Gold was quoted at $954.02 a troy ounce from $957.85/oz at the
JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1 241/oz, from $1 244/oz at its
previous close.
"We are down this morning. Resources are seeing a big sell off,
especially platinum stocks," the trader said.
"General miners are weak. Asia was quite low this morning. We might see
profit taking especially after the good week last week. Commodity prices are
also lower."
"There is a lot of data out this week and will probably give us some
direction. At the moment US futures are down, indicating a weaker start in
the US.
"The Dow closed lower on Friday too. For the day, we are likely to trade
lower until the US opens and we will see what happens there," she said.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that despite jewellery retailer Tiffany &
Co boosting its full-year earnings view, and technology giants Dell and
Intel making other upbeat comments, stocks were mostly lower on Friday as
economic data raised concerns about the state of the consumer.
Recovery questioned
The worries - prompted by a slip in consumer confidence - sent two of
the three major indices lower on Friday, erasing most of their gains for the
week and pushing the DJIA to its first negative close in nine days. The
index lost 36.43 points, or 0.38%, to 9 544.20 on Friday, putting its gain
for the weak at just 0.4%. But it is up 4.06% for the month-to-date, and
will probably close out on Monday its best August performance in nine years.
The S&P 500 fell 2.05, or 0.2%, to 1 028.93, pulled down by a 0.91% drop
in its health-care sector. Among the decliners were insurance company Cigna
Corp, which dropped 90 cents, or 2.9%, to 29.67, and drug giant Bristol-
Myers Squibb, which slid 66 cents, or 2.9%, to 22.12. The S&P's tech sector,
meanwhile, managed to notch a 0.3% gain.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, eked out an increase of
1.04, or 0.05%, to 2028.77, marking its highest close since October 1. The
index is on track for its sixth-straight monthly gain, its longest monthly
winning streak since the seven months ended August 2003.
Asian stock markets on Monday tumbled with miners in particular losing
ground.
In Japan, the Nikkei ended down 0.4% and in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was
last off 2.5%.
European stock markets are expected to start lower in what could be the
precursor of a September sell off.
- I-Net Bridge