Upbeat mining production figures did however equate to resource counters trading well off the lows of the day and in turn, the all-share index has added 0.4% on the day thus far.
The resource index is 1.91% lower, while the industrial index has added 1.04% and the financial index 0.16%.
In company news, Consolidated Infrastructure Group Ltd released a trading statement guiding that the company expects interim results to reflect an earnings and headline earnings per share increase of between 20% and 28%.
Stellar Capital has advised that it has acquired a 16.45% interest in Cadiz from various shareholders for a total cash consideration of R45, 283,142.00. The final share purchases were implemented on 7 April 2015.
The Rand is trading at R11.82 to the Dollar, R12.70 to the Euro and R17.49 to the British Pound. In commodities, Gold is trading at $1,195/oz., Platinum at $1,159/oz. and Brent Crude at $56.8/oz.
On the economic front, local gross gold and foreign exchange reserves were recorded at $46.44bn, while the net figure for the aforementioned was reported to be $41.28bn. Mining production in South Africa increased by 7.5% year-on-year in February 2015. The highest positive growth rates were recorded for PGMs (26.7%), iron ore (22.6%) and manganese ore (16.8%).
Manufacturing production and sales data for South Africa in February 2015 expected at 1:00pm. In the U.K., we await the announcements on the official bank rate and asset purchase facility at 1:00pm. In the U.S., weekly unemployment claims data expected at 2:30pm.