Struggling?

Furniture maker and distributor, Steinhoff (-4.93%) and banking group, Standard Bank (-4.59%) were the biggest culprits in dragging the bourse into the red.

On the currency market the pound and dollar terrorized our current fragile currency - they gained 25 cents and 16 cents respectively against the rand.

Some analysts believe that the current 56:1 ratio of the gold price (-0.33%) to the price of silver can be used as a bullish signal for the price of the grey metal. The oil price (+0.73%) traded just above its average price for the year which is roundabout $49.50 per barrel.

After the holiday on Monday, huge volumes were traded on the US equity markets; the markets closed 0.55% down on average. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index (-0.45%) fell as losses in shares of Unilever and Rentokil outweighed gains in mining companies.

The Asian equity markets are currently mixed, the Nikkei 225 (+0.16%) marginally on the upside. It is the middle of the week and everybody is stil slightly hung over from the data dump experienced yesterday.

Trading today is expected to be in reaction to the data released yesterday and a possibly weaker rand.