* Euro zone jitters weighs on Johannesburg
* Stocks down nearly 0.7 percent
JOHANNESBURG, June 14 (Reuters) – South African shares
closed 0.7 percent lower on Thursday, tracking a downbeat mood
in global markets, and looked set to remain volatile with global
investors keeping their money in less risky assets.
Miners such as African Rainbow Minerals and Kumba
Iron Ore were among the bigger decliners, falling over
2 percent each.
“Our market is being brought down by commodities and
resource stocks. Everyone is worried about demand going forward
while commodities are pulling back,” said Byron Lotter,
portfolio manager at Vestact.
“It’s still about Europe pending the Greek election on
Sunday. There has been hardly any market activity as people
await the outcome of the elections and the big decisions which
need to be made.”
Global markets are bracing for possible turmoil if the
outcome of Greece’s elections on Sunday prompts panic flight of
capital from the bloc to more stable regions.
Johannesburg’s Top-40 index shed 0.68 percent to
29,845.01 and the wider All-Share measure dropped 0.62
percent to 33,826.01.
Mining shares are usually the first to suffer in shaky
economic times because of the expected drop in factory
production in industrial nations, and the knock-on effect that
has on commodity prices.
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