Money SA economy
South African stocks ended deep in the red on Tuesday weighed by resource counters amid profit taking and risk aversion.
At 5pm the JSE all share index had lost 1.37%. Resources shed 1.19%, and platinum and gold producers weakened 0.43% and 0.16% respectively. Banks gave up 1.80%, financials were down 1.38% and industrials weakened 1.56%.
"There is profit taking, it was a negative day today. Risk aversion is also coming back into the market," a trader said. "The risk aversion supports the dollar which in turn puts commodity prices under prices under pressure, and that is why our market is down so much. The bigger weight of our market is down. The rand is weak. It's stronger than its lows, but it's still very, very, weak and it's not even supporting these metals."
Dow Jones Newswire reported that US stocks opened lower on Tuesday on some economic jitters ahead of a two-day policy meeting from the Federal Reserve, with traders looking past a decision by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to purchase Burlington Northern Santa Fe in a bet on economic recovery.
Early on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded off 50 points to 9747. Within the index, financials were particularly weak, including a decline of 1.4% for Bank of America.
Back in Johannesburg, Anglo American Plc lost R3.80, or 1.30%, to R289.20 and BHP Billiton shed R4.85, or 2.24%, to R211.26. Petrochemicals group Sasol was unchanged at R293.50.
