JSE claws its way back

local time, the JSE all-share index was off 0,28 percent, led down by resources, which shed 0,62 percent, and platinum miners, which eased 0,61 percent. Gold miners were off 0,31 percent, industrials shed 0,1 percent, banks eased 0,22 percent and financials were 0,08 percent in the red.
The rand was at R7,73 to the dollar, from R7,69 at the JSE’s close on Monday. Gold was quoted at US$1715,95 a troy ounce from US$1719,13/oz at the JSE’s previous close, while platinum was at US$1641/oz, from US$1652/oz before.
The trader noted that after opening weaker, some Asian markets managed to eke out gains, with the Nikkei closing up 0,6 percent and the Hang Seng quoted up 6,6 points. She noted that it was mostly resources stocks that were weighing on the JSE, but volumes were pretty light as players awaited the opening of European bourses.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that Asian markets were mostly lower earlier after Moody’s downgraded its credit ratings on six European nations, blaming the fallout from the continent’s debt crisis. The move came after Greek lawmakers pushed through a package of austerity cuts late on Sunday, with Prime Minister Lucas Papademos saying the measures were “the country’s only hope” to avoid economic meltdown and secure another bail-out.
Moody’s chopped ratings for Italy, Spain and Portugal and said its top ratings on Austria, France and Britain were also at risk.
Ratings were also cut for Slovenia, Slovakia and Malta, with the agency warning that all nine countries were increasingly susceptible to financial and macroeconomic risks from the euro-zone debt crisis. – I-NET BRIDGE.