The JSE opened weaker on Thursday morning as the gold price fell to its lowest level so far in 2018, pulling vulnerable gold stocks down. Data from the Minerals Council SA (the former Chamber of Mines) showed that 80% of SA’s gold mines were unprofitable at prevailing gold prices of about R520,000/kg. Gold has been pummelled by the stronger dollar as well as US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s recent comments on US employment and inflation. "This helped to sustain expectations for another interest rate increase in September," analysts at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking said. The gold price has lost 6.2% in rand so far in 2018. The gold index has shed 23% in 2018. Asian markets turned negative following an upbeat opening on a higher Dow closing on Wednesday. The Dow was buoyed by financials with Morgan Stanley reporting second quarter results that beat forecasts. The Dow firmed 0.32%. The Nikkei 225 lost 0.13%, the Shanghai Composite 0.53% and the Hang Seng 0.27%. The m...
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