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Gold only nugget amid JSE bloodbath

Johannesburg - The world markets meltdown which continued on Monday spilled over to the JSE, dragging the All-share index below 48 000 points.

On Friday, the All-share closed below 50 000 points for the first time since the beginning of the year.

On Monday, all the major indices on the JSE, with the exception of the Gold index, were substantially lower. The declines were expected as all the indices are now trading sharply below their 200-day averages and analysts predict the end is not yet in sight.

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The markets are still in turmoil on concerns about the Chinese economy's poor prospects, which is a big threat for world growth.
 
World markets, which were sharply lower on Friday, continued on the same path on Monday with the European markets again more than 2% lower by midday.
 
It was however the emerging markets, which include South Africa, which were the hardest hit; Hong Kong (-5.17%), Japan (-4.61%) and Australia (-4%) were also substantially lower.
 
By midday, the All-share index was 2.39% lower at 47 859 points and the Top 40-index lost 2.42% to 42 355 points. The Resources index was 3.40% down as commodity prices fell further, while the Industrial and Financial indices traded 2.40% and 1.82% lower respectively.

The losses seem more moderate than other emerging markets, as exporters received some support from the weaker rand which traded at R13.24/$ by midday after breaking through R14.00/$ overnight.
 
Gold shares continued with their recovery as precious metals are regarded a safe haven in times of financial turmoil. The Gold index gained another 0.86%, despite the gold and platinum prices being slightly lower.
 
Among the top shares Naspers [JSE:NPN], which has a big exposure to the Chinese economy, traded 2.07% lower at R1 587.38. The share price started sharply lower and in early trade was more than 4% lower at R1 521.90.
 
Sasol [JSE:SOL] lost 3.20% to R373.18 as the oil price dropped even further. Brent crude traded below $44 per barrel on Monday. Sasol has lost 9.38% over the past seven days.
 
BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL], which was severely punished on the Australian market earlier on Monday, at midday was 3.87% softer at R208.60. Anglo American [JSE:AGL] also lost ground and traded 3.40% lower at R143.38.

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Rand - Dollar
18.94
-0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.91
-0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.43
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.35
+0.0%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.2%
Platinum
908.50
+1.3%
Palladium
1,017.25
+1.5%
Gold
2,220.32
+1.2%
Silver
24.84
+0.8%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.8%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.8%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
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