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Johannesburg - The JSE followed world markets lower on Monday due to negative sentiment after a Cyprus bank bailout proposal that included an unexpected levy on bank account deposits.
The bailout proposal led to renewed fears that the eurozone debt crisis could deepen.
At 17:00 the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index closed 0.70% lower at 40 470.65 points‚ with miners and resources weighing due to the risk-off trading environment. Platinums gave back 1.68%‚ resources closed 1.39% softer and the gold index ended 0.65% lower‚ while banks offered some support‚ adding 0.38%.
European markets were trading softer with London’s FTSE 100 seen 0.61% lower at 16.47 local time‚ while the Dow Jones industrial average was 0.24% softer at the same time.
“Cyprus was talked about all morning and dented market sentiment and the focus is now firmly back on the eurozone and its economic woes‚” said Devin Schutte‚ market analyst at stockbrokerage Newstrading.
“The fear of contagion spilling over to peripheral areas continues to cause jitters in global markets with investors getting a bit of a scare today‚” he said.
On the JSE‚ Anglo American (AGL) dipped 1.58% to R255.40 and BHP Billiton (BIL) gave back 1.60% to R283.30.
Kumba Iron Ore (KIO) closed 1.13% lower at R506.19‚ while ArcelorMittal (ACL) added 1.55% to R29.47.
Gold counters Gold One International (GDO) dropped 3.04% to R2.55 and Sibanye Gold (SGL) was 2.30% lower at R13.58 despite saying that production at its Driefontein operations had resumed on Monday following the restoration of 200Mva of power‚ and that full steady state production was expected to be achieved within the week.
AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) closed 1.26% lower at R225.72 after the company said that the TauTona mine had resumed underground mining activities on Friday March 15‚ while Mponeng had resumed most of its operations on Monday.
Platinum player Lonmin (LON) retreated 5.20% to R44.08 and Jubilee (JBL) gave back 3.36% to R1.15.
Trans Hex (TSX) shed 7.5% to R3.33.
Among banking counters Nedbank (NED) was up 1.05% to R194.57 and RMB Holdings (RMH) garnered 1.42% to R40.60.
Times Media (TMG) slipped 4.31% to R15.55.
Metair (MTA) closed 2.20% higher at R35.76 after reporting that its diluted headline earnings per share rose by 19.2% to 304c in the year ended December.
