JSE opens weaker in lacklustre trade as gold makes gains

The JSE opened weaker in lacklustre trade on Wednesday‚ despite gold shares firming for the third consecutive session.

Investors have been buying gold shares in reaction to the firmer gold price and softer rand as a safe haven‚ as global tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia has increased.

US equities delivered a slightly mixed performance on Tuesday‚ as riskier assets partially stabilised following a sharply lower commencement to the year’s trading. Upside momentum was limited by weakness in global crude oil prices while Apple also traded more than 2% lower.

The Dow closed 0.06% higher on Tuesday. On Wednesday the Nikkei was 0.99% lower‚ while the Shanghai Composite gained 2.25%.

A combination of general nervousness surrounding China‚ concerns about the outcome of the fourth-quarter earnings season and a lack of certainty on the near-term interest-rate trajectory in the US continue to conspire to create a lacklustre environment for risk assets‚ Momentum SP Reid said in an early morning note.

At 9.32am the all share was 0.83% lower at 49‚187.20 points and the blue-chip top 40 lost 0.84%. Banks dropped 1.92%. Platinums lost 1.68%‚ while resources were down 1.40%. The gold index rose 1.93%.

Among individual shares Anglo American dropped 1.56% to R64.47.

Sasol was down 0.96% at R411 as the Brent crude price continues to trade weaker. It was 1.39% lower at $36.06 a barrel at the JSE’s opening.

After starting the year on a strong note‚ Anglo American Platinum lost 3.47% to R177.10.

Among banks FirstRand was down 2.07% at R40.74‚ while Sanlam lost 2.63% to R56.59.

MTN was 2.33% lower at R133.97.

- TMG Digital/BDlive