Johannesburg - The JSE fell in line with other markets at noon on Friday, following news out of China that bank reserve requirements will rise later this month.
By 12:01 local time, the JSE all share index was down 0.53%, with gold miners losing out the most by 2.16%. Resources lost 1.47%, and platinum miners fell 1.29%. Banks were 0.60% down, while financials gave up 0.52%.Industrials picked up 0.36%.
The rand was trading at 6.85 to the dollar from 6.81 at the JSE's close on Thursday. Gold was quoted at US$1 367.34 a troy ounce from US$1 381.47/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 805/oz from $1 814.50/oz before.
A local trader says that among factors leading markets down is the announcement by Chinese authorities that they will hike their bank reserve requirements rate by 50 basis points with effect from January 20.
"Our market fell 100 points [following the news] and European markets fell as well," the trader added.
Dow Jones Newswires reports that European stocks were slightly lower overall early on Friday, led downward by the basic resources sector as commodity prices slipped. However, technology shares were bolstered by strong Intel results late on Thursday, limiting the downside.
US computer-chip giant Intel reported better-than-expected first-quarter revenue and margins, helped by a surge in demand for tech products following the pullback during the recession.
The results bode well for the US earnings season, which began this week, analysts said.
"We are predicting solid results from the fourth-quarter earnings season that may further positively impact investors' sentiment and may continue to boost the risk appetite for equities. We think yesterday's better-than-expected results from Intel confirmed our view," said Andrea Lazzari, head strategist at Amplify Trading.
However, by 09:15 GMT, the Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.6% at 282.27. London's FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 6 000.88, Frankfurt's DAX fell 0.2% to 7 061.13 and Paris's CAC-40 declined 0.2% to 3 968.778.
On Friday, Asian stock markets were mixed after Wall Street's losses on Thursday and the disappointing US jobless claims data, although the solid results from Intel helped some technology-related stocks. Results from JPMorgan Chase are due at 12:00 GMT on Friday.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.9% but Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1% and South Korea's Kospi Composite was up 0.9%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.2% but China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.3%.
