Painful Monday as JSE slides after sharp early selloff

The commodities rout continued on Monday with the JSE All-Share Index slumping over 5% at the market open before paring some of its losses to trade about 3% lower by around 10am, wiping out recent gains and dragging the index to 116 105 points.

The selloff has been driven by heavy losses in the resource sector, with mining and precious metals counters sliding by double digits. Sibanye Stillwater was the biggest loser in early trade, down more than 14%, followed by Northam, down 12% and Harmony, down around 11%.

Read/ listen:
JSE plunges over 4% amid precious metals volatility
Coronation called it: Why the fund manager isn’t buying gold stocks
Commodity volatility ain’t over yet

Resource stocks have been the primary drag on the broader market, with the Resource 10 Index – which tracks major mining and metals counters – almost 10% lower, reflecting sustained pressure on gold and platinum group metals shares.

The gold price was trading at $4 586 at around 10am, down 6%, while platinum traded at $1 989, almost 9% lower.

Monday’s slump follows a sharp decline on Friday, when volatile gold, silver and platinum prices pushed the All Share Index down more than 4% and over 5 000 points to close at 120 046, after ending the previous day at 125 249.

Also on Friday, the Resources 10 Index fell more than 10% as gold dropped nearly 7%, while silver and platinum plunged more than 17% and 15%, respectively.

The latest pullback comes after the JSE reached a fresh record last week, briefly trading above 125 000 points, before a reversal in commodity prices triggered renewed volatility.

Nick Kunze from Sanlam Private Wealth told Simon Brown on the MoneywebNow podcast that commodity prices were always likely to correct after the sharp gains of recent months, adding that investors should brace for further market pain as the adjustment unfolds.

Read: Gold plunge deepens as traders unwind ‘crowded’ bets on rally

Follow Moneyweb’s in-depth finance and business news on WhatsApp here.