The JSE closed at the lowest level in 15 months on Friday following a mass stock market slump over the past week.
This is attributed to panic over the coronavirus, with one company after another – including US giants such as Microsoft and Apple and local firms such as Woolworths, Shoprite, Steinhoff, and Bidcorp – indicating how the virus is going about their sales become.
That’s because factories and ports in China just haven’t been running since the virus spread in the middle of the Chinese New Year holiday.
The JSE All Share Index fell by almost 5% within a quarter of an hour on Friday morning.
The closing of 51,038.18 points was the lowest in 15 months.
Since February 17, the JSE has fallen seven out of nine trading days for a total decline of 12.3%.
The JSE followed in the wake of the chaos on Thursday on US stock exchanges.
In America, chaos reigned on Wall Street after panic spread over the coronavirus. The well-known Dow Jones industrial index had its worst fall in its history when it fell by 1,191 points. It closed 4.4% lower. The S&P 500 index also fell 4.4% and the Nasdaq closed 4.6% lower.
On Friday, the slaughter continued, with the Dow Jones still down 3.9% at 5.30pm South Africa, the London FTSE 100 index down 4.6%.
