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Johannesburg - The JSE was in negative territory on Tuesday morning with resources and platinums pulling on the downside. Only gold miners and banks made slight gains.
Investor’s are now keenly awaiting SA’s fourth quarter GDP figures due for release at 11:30.
At 10:09 the All Share [JSE:J203] index was 0.76% lower at 39 487.49 points‚ with resources and platinums giving back 1.69% and 1.23% respectively.
“Today’s local macro focus will fall squarely on the fourth quarter 2012 supply-side GDP release by Stats SA. We expect a slight moderation in sequential growth from 1.2% quarter on quarter saa in the third quarter to 1.0% in the fourth quarter. This is more bearish than the consensus projection of 1.7%‚” Rand Merchant Bank said in a note.
“Based on the wide survey range of 0.5% to 2.9% the forecast risk is elevated and there are two-sided risks to the outcome. While the rebound in manufacturing should have offset the slump in mining‚ the services sectors could surprise either way. We have factored in muted services sector growth‚ including by the government. Our final fourth quarter estimate implies full-year growth of 2.5%‚ which is better than our 2.3% full-year forecast‚ but still quite a slowdown from the 3.5% recorded in 2011‚” the bank said.
