JSE closes lower, weighed by global market sentiment

Shares fell on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) which closed lower on Thursday, reversing the gain of the previous day rally due to the global growth sentiment.

The local market headed down from the outset and traded in the red the whole of the afternoon. The all share index was off 0.61 percent to 51,813.50 points in early afternoon, with the blue-chip top 40 index shaving off 1.24 percent.

Resources led the losses on the index, tumbling 2.01 percent. Financial index shed 1.07 percent and industrial gave up 0.91 percent.

Gold had fallen 0.38 percent to $1271.47 an ounce.

The rand reacted to news that South Africa's manufacturing output shrunk by two percent year-on-year in March after growing by a revised 2.2 percent in February.

The rand was trading at R15.00 to the U.S. dollar, R21.73 to the British pound and R17.11 to the euro despite the rally in oil bolstered currencies of commodity-exporting nations.

Commodity prices were broadly mixed, with platinum giving up more than 1 percent to R1060.56 an ounce, though copper was marginally higher at $4,709 per tonne at the close of trade.

Among the big miners, Anglo American lost 6.81 percent to R125.60 after investors bought and sold 5,901,201 shares in 9,210 deals, sending the share price down to R125.83. ENX Group (ENX) slid 5.62 percent to R1.68 after 7 deals saw the sale of 259,000 shares, BHP shed 2.81 percent to R177.44.

Amongst the top ten movers up was Diamondcorp (DMC), whose shares climbed 17.36 percent to sell at R1.69 after investors exchanged 404,125 shares in 9 deals. Edged up 9.77 percent to R9.89 was Indluplace Properties (ILU), after seven deals traded a total of 16,414 shares today. Enditem