It was really no surprise that the local markets slummed today after the release of GDP figures which showed that growth in the South Africa economy was slowing down. The rand slipped immediately after the release of the GDP figures. At 12:00 the rand was trading at R7.7293/$ from a previous close of R7.6810. Against other major currencies, the rand continued to soften: R12.1836/€ from R12.1270 and R15.2727/£ from R15.2158.

On the JSE, the all share index closed 0.79% in the red with the Top 40 index also dropping by 0.86%. Two telling factors for the poor performance in the markets today were the less than positive GDP figures and the weaker commodity stocks. The price of gold fell 2.16% and this resulted in the gold miner Harmony shedding 3.33% to close at R94.75. Other big loosers today were Sasol which dropped 2.77% to close at R483, BHP Biliton closed 2.09% lower to R306.21 and Anglo American lost 0.89% to close at R522.25.

Subscribe

Sign-up to receive the latest updates from TheRandToday.com direct to your mailbox

Loading ...