Picture: MICHAEL ETTERSHANK
Picture: MICHAEL ETTERSHANK

THE JSE closed lower on Tuesday in line with global markets as stocks fell and haven assets gained. This followed explosions in Brussels that killed and injured dozens on Tuesday in what authorities said were terrorist attacks.

The explosions hit Brussels international airport and a subway station near European Union institutions. They came just days after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, one of the alleged Paris attackers who was captured in Brussels after a four-month manhunt, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

At 5pm, the all share index closed 0.80% lower at 53,392.90 points and the blue-chip top 40 index finished 1.03% down.

Resources led the declines, down 1.1%, while gold miners led the gains, up 1.83%. Platinums added 1.59% amid a higher platinum price.

Afrifocus portfolio manager Ferdi Heyneke said there was a big push in the local market with a futures close-out having buoyed the JSE on Friday, but that there had been a rebalancing in the market after that.

"The JSE has moved into a short-term overbought area, from the beginning of the year, and we have seen some profit-taking recently," Mr Heyneke said.

He said European markets were not doing too badly considering the explosions in Brussels. At the JSE’s close the German Dax was down 0.29% and the French CAC 40 was off 0.52%, while London’s FTSE 100 was flat (-0.08%).

At the same time the Dow Jones industrial average had lost 0.18%.

"So it looks like these markets are holding up fairly well considering the circumstances," Mr Heyneke said.

"Volatility is quite high in global markets and these swings will probably continue. The turnover on the JSE amounted to R21bn on the day, which is fair considering that it is a short, three-day trading week," Mr Heyneke said.

Among individual shares on the JSE, Anglo American was down 1.68% at R119.68 after the miner said on Tuesday it has reduced its net debt by $130m. This followed completion of a bond buy-back programme aimed at strengthening its balance sheet while it grappled with a protracted rout in commodity prices.

Rival BHP Billiton retreated 4.38% to R177.35.

Gold miner AngloGold Ashanti rose 2.69% to R211.80 and Anglo American Platinum gained 2.98% to R389.75.

Wescoal Holdings surged more than 20% to R1.27 after the miner said today it expected its headline earnings per share (Heps) would be about 50% more in the year ended March 31 2016 than the 15.4c in the year-earlier period.

Some retailers had a poor day with Pick n Pay down 3.25% to R64 and Spar giving up 3.12% to R190.34.

Construction group Basil Read was down 4.37% to R3.50, while Group Five added 3.53% to R22.27.