Johannesburg, Nov 16 (I-Net Bridge) - The JSE ended Wednesday flat, as swings in sentiment in the eurozone toyed with global markets.
A local trader said that US stocks had dragged the local bourse down late on, with the rand showing signs of improving against the dollar.
At 17:00 local time, the All Share index ended flat. Platinums climbed 0.40%, gold collected 0.03%, but resources dropped 0.30%.
Financials acquired 0.42%, banks lifted 0.69%, and industrials picked up a mere 0.07%.
The rand was trading at 8.16 to the dollar, from 8.11 at the JSE's close on Tuesday. Gold traded at US$1,757.73 a troy ounce from US$1,783.76/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at US$1,623/oz, from US$1,641.20/oz previously.
Dow Jones Newswires earlier reported that US stocks opened lower as oil pushed above US$100 a barrel, adding to heightened government bond yields in Europe and signs of economic weakness on the continent.
Leading the declines were financials and materials stocks, as investors remained focused on developments in Europe.
In Europe, markets weakened as early optimism faded after Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said the UK's economy could be flat until the middle of next year, adding that he had no idea how the eurozone's debt crisis would eventually be resolved. Meanwhile, the UK unemployment rate rose to 8.3% in October, the highest since 1996.
Separately, Italian lender UniCredit would reportedly meet with the European Central Bank to ask for more access to funding. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank bought Italian, Spanish and Portuguese government bonds, bringing yields down and lifting European shares. The yield on the Italian 10-year government bond traded above the 7% threshold that is considered unsustainable, before falling back below that level, trading recently at 6.96%.
Asian bourses were also broadly lower because of eurozone worries. China's Shanghai Composite shed 2.5% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.9%.
On the JSE, Anglo American (AGL) was R1.00 off at R315.50, BHP Billiton (BIL) lost R2.19 at R252.01 and Sasol (SOL) was flat at R385.01.
Among gold shares, AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) gained R2.48 to R382.50.
In platinum stocks, Amplats (AMS) rose R5.15 to R575.15, and Northam Platinum (NHM) gathered R1.01 or 3.26% to R32.
Among diversified miners, Exxaro (EXX) banked R2.32 or 1.28% to R183.30, but Assore (ASR) shipped R1.20 to R217.49. ArcelorMittal (ACL) declined R2.17 or 3.25% to R64.50.
Optimum Coal (OPT) declined R1.50 or 4.05% to R35.50.
Sappi (SAP) garnered 66 cents or 2.86% to R23.72.
Among industrials British American Tobacco (BTI) profited R3.83 or 1.02% to R379.62, along with SABMiller (SAB), up R2.23 to R288.23.
Bidvest (BVT) improved R1.28 to R156.77.
Telecommunications group MTN (MTN) rose R1.80 or 1.33% to R137.40.
Banker Standard Bank (SBK) found R1.15 or 1.20% to R96.60.
Retailer Truworths (TRU) dropped R2.06 or 2.58% to R77.82, and Mr Price (MPC) fell R1.51 or 1.86% to R79.65. Massmart (MSM) however, gained R2.00 or 1.27% to R160.
Sugar group Tongaat Hulett (TON) sweetened by R1.40 or 1.53% to R92.90.
Building materials provider Cashbuild (CSB) surrendered R2.26 or 2.05% to R107.74.
Media company Naspers (NPN) lost R5.78 or 1.56% to R365. It said on Wednesday that it expected core headline earnings per share to be between 5% and 15% higher for the six months to September 30 than the comparable period's 860 cents.
It was expected that earnings per share would be between 40% and 50% lower compared to the prior period's 921 cents, mainly as a consequence of once-off dilution gains in the prior period arising from the contribution of the group's stake in Mail.ru into the newly listed entity, the company said.
Meanwhile, headline earnings per share for the period were expected to be between 5% and 15% higher than the prior period's 633 cents.
Avusa (AVU) dropped R1.00 or 4.76% to R20. It advised on Friday that headline earnings per share for the six months ended September 30 were expected to be between 85% and 95% below the previous corresponding period.
Headline earnings per share exclude a profit generated on the sale of commercial properties by the Books business unit.
