JSE weaker, tracking world markets

Johannesburg - The JSE opened lower on Friday following US and Asian markets, which closed and opened down respectively, a local trader said.

At 09:16 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.26% to 34,019.18 points. Resources eased by 0.36%, financials were down 0.27% and industrials were 0.20% lower.

Platinums were 0.34% higher, gold shares were 0.22% better off, and banks were up 0.16%.

The rand was trading at R7.81 to the US dollar, from R7.83 at the JSE's close on Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1 643.16 a troy ounce from $1 649.60/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 575/oz, from $1 582/oz at the previous session.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that Asian Stocks dropped on Friday as disappointing US economic data depressed demand, with Korean and Japanese exporters underperforming on concerns about the global growth outlook.

"While stronger-than-expected US data has been the common theme in recent times, a general lack of continuity continues to plague the market with little in the way of solid evidence to suggest the economy is on a sustained upside trajectory," said Chris Gore, Melbourne-based currency analyst at GO Markets, in a note.

Thursday's downbeat US housing, jobless claims and manufacturing data raised anxiety about the outlook for the world's largest economy, eclipsing stronger-than-expected US earnings, a positive Spanish bond auction and improved prospects for the International Monetary Fund's resources to expand.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.4%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.2%, South Korea's Kospi Composite was off 1.2% and New Zealand's NZX-50 was down 0.4%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up four points in screen trade.

Many regional exporter stocks and industrials lost ground as investors continued to fret about the global growth outlook, with recent concerns about a slowdown in China's economy and the string of soft US data hobbling equities.

In Tokyo, Toyota Motor fell 0.6%, Canon was off 0.5% and Fanuc dropped 0.5%, while in Seoul Samsung Electronics declined 1.9%, steelmaker Posco fell 1.1% and Hyundai Motor lost 1.2%.

"April continues to be a tough month for investors, but after a stellar January-March quarter, that is to be expected to some degree," said Mattia Ciancaleoni, director of equity sales at Citigroup Global Markets Japan.