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Johannesburg - The JSE remained slightly weaker on Friday amid a selloff in gold and platinum shares‚ partly attributable to a pullback in the spot prices of the metals.
At 12:35 the All Share [JSE:J203] index was 0.09% lower at 40 694.96 points; the gold and platinum indices lost 1.89% and 2.18%‚ respectively.
The platinum spot price fell 0.91% to $1 692.50 per ounce‚ hurting platinum shares such as Impala Platinum (IMP‚ Implats) although losses in the counter were also flowing from its half-year results on Thursday.
“The platinum price is retreating from a high base after a strong run this year.” said Nick Kunze‚ a director at Terrassen Capital Management in Johannesburg.
Since the start of the year‚ the price of the metal has gained as much as 11% in dollar terms.
“When it comes to platinum shares‚ there is a strong debate as to where to put the money in light of challenges such as higher operating costs in the sector‚” Kunze said.
Gold price maintained its recent downward spiral‚ losing 0.36% to trade at $1 629.14 per ounce.
Global risk on Friday is focused on the US‚ with a string of data on the agenda‚ and the Group of 20 meeting in Russia‚ said RMB analysts in a note.
Elsewhere‚ major European stock market indices were mostly flat‚ while Dow futures pointed to a slightly weaker open on Wall Street later in the day.
Among individual shares on the JSE‚ Anglo American (AGL) was up 2.35% to R281.80 in what traders attributed to better than expected full year earnings.
Implats (IMP) was down 3.55% to R155.28.
Anglo Gold Ashanti (ANG) gave up 2.06% to R249.42‚ Gold Fields (GFI) lost 2.35% to R88.14 and Harmony (HAR) relinquished 3.36% to R62.09.
SABMiller (SAB) shed 1.51% to R434.98‚ while Discovery (DSY) gained 3.01% to R66.80.
