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.

The market was relatively quiet today due to it being a public holiday in the UK and USA. The JSE closed in the positive though, with the all share index gaining 0.55% at the close. Resources were up 1.35% so to were financials by 0.14%. Most eyes on the JSE today were on MTN who are still trying to sort out a possible deal with India’s Reliance Communications. MTN had initial been in talks with Bharti Airtel, also from India, but those talks have since terminated. Amongst all this uncertainty with MTN, their shares ended 5.7% lower today to close at R148.07 a share.

On the currency front, the rand was bid at R7.69/$ from a previous close of R7.67. This is an important week for the South African markets as Statistics South Africa will release the Q1 gross domestic product growth figures at 11:30 on Tuesday (27 May) and inflation figures on Wednesday (28 May). The results of these figures will go a long way to determining the market sentiment especially the inflation figures which could force interest rates to rise.

The JSE closed in the negative today inline with other markets across the world. Despite the injection by the US FED of more liquidity into the market there are still fears with regards to the credit market woes which continue to drive the markets down.

The JSE all share index closed 1.31% down. The financial stocks were amongst the biggest loosers of the day as the financial index closed 2.77% in the red. The gold mining index was the biggest gainer of the day after propelling itself 3.53%, this on the back of the gold price soaring through the $1 000 mark today.

As at 18:00 local time, the Rand was trading at 7.9447 to the dollar, 16.1346 to the pound and 12.3807 to the euro. At the same time, platinum was trading at $2 108.50 an ounce, gold was at $995.60 an ounce after reaching the $1 000 level during the day and oil was trading at $107.04 a barrel.

Today was a good day for the JSE with the all share index closing 1.65% higher. A combination of factors resulted in the JSE closing on the up: Resources were up 2.21% today, the platinum mining index rose 2.82% and industrials were up 1.37%. World markets were generally positive today after news that the US Federal Reserve Bank had raised liquidity in financial markets.

The rand was bid at R7.80 to the dollar from 7.84 when the JSE closed yesterday, while gold was quoted at $975.90 an ounce from $971.07 at the JSE’s last close. Platinum was last at $2 050/oz, up five dollars, from its overnight close of $2 045/oz.

The JSE ended in the positive today with the all share index closing 0.33% positive. This was in line with overseas markets.
The banking stocks were the biggest gainers of the day, gaining 4.04% coupled with financials which added 2.58%. Industrials were also on the up, 1.55%. On the down side were resources which fell 1.20%, the gold index closed 0.44% in the red and the platinum index slid 0.19%.

When the JSE closed the Rand was bid at R7.84 to the dollar show signs that the Rand is recovering a bit against the green back after trading at R7.96 yesterday.

The JSE closed on a low today with the all share index closing 1.96% in the red. The gold mining index fell 4.11% and resources dropped 4.1%, while the platinum mining index weakened 3.45%. Banks were down 0.95% and financials lost 0.88%, but industrials were on the up 0.89%. The JSE ended in the red today largely due to weaker world markets and ever growing fears of a recession in the US. The drop in the resources and mining stocks did not help the JSE. With the prices of platinum and gold coming down today, it was no surprise that the resource and mining indexes fell by such great margins today.

At 20:00, Platinum was trading at $1 980 an ounce and gold was at $970.80, both metals significantly dropping from their levels last week. There was not letting up on the price of oil though. Oil hit a record high of $107/barrel today, reversing earlier losses as investors sought oil as a hedge against a depressed dollar and inflation.

As for the Rand, at 17:20 local time, it was trading at R7.9320 against the greenback after briefly touching R7.9280, a sharp recovery from its session, and new near-five-year, low of R8.1170/dollar.

The Rand was bid at 7.9300 to the dollar at 17:40 today from its previous close of 8.0510 and an intraday worst level of 8.0675.

The JSE closed in the red today with the All Share index ending 1.16% lower. Global equity markets all seemed to take a dive today after the release of gloomy US job reports and continuing fears of a recession in the US. Most of the indexes on the JSE ended lower today with the exception of the gold mining index which closed 1.95% up. This past week the JSE has mainly been held up by the resources and mining stocks but today it was not the case as the platinum mining index retreated 1.36%, while resources fell 1.23%.