Wednesday, 16 May 2012 00:22
JOHANNESBURG: South African stocks inched lower on Tuesday, as gold miners such as Gold Fields were hammered by a drop in the price of bullion, although losses were limited by a rise in heavyweights Naspers and MTN Group.
Investors have been dumping emerging market assets, which are seen as higher risk, due to concerns about the outlook for global growth and debt-ridden Greece's impact on Europe.
Global markets have been plagued by worries that Greece could exit the euro zone and long-term problems in that region will put the brakes on the global economy.
"The risk-off trade is still heavily in play, unfortunately. The commodities, although they tried to stage a bit of a rebound today, are not really getting any traction. We're seeing the usual flight to safe havens like the dollar," said Devin Shutte, an equity and derivatives trader at brokerage Newstrading.
"Any excuse to sell this market seems to be taken ...