The JSE pulled back from its lows yesterday after the US markets, trading for the first time since last Tuesday`s terror attack, opened well in the red, but better than expected.
After the close in SA, however, US stocks plummeted, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average recording its biggest single-day loss.
World markets received a fillip when the US Federal Reserve cut its federal funding rate by half a percentage point to 3%.
The European Central Bank followed suit, cutting its key rates by the same margin after a teleconference with the US Federal Reserve.
The surprise cut in Europe, in conjunction with a better than expected initial performance in the US market, helped European markets close higher.
The FTSE 100 closed 143.2 points or 3.01% up at 4 898.90, while the CAC 40 rose 105.97 points or 2.71% to 4 015.46.
Germany`s XETRA DAX climbed 118.58 points or 2.88% to 4 234.56 at the close.
Japan`s Nikkei 225 Average, which had been up 4.6% yesterday, ended 175.47 points or 1.9% up at 9 679.88.
The Fed`s rate cut did little to improve sentiment at home, however.
Despite the cut and dealers` hopes of a patriotic rally towards the end of the US trading day, the Nasdaq closed 6.83% down at 1 579.55, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw its biggest one-day decline, closing 7.13% lower at 8 920.7.
The JSE extended trade in a bid to minimise the impact of the re-opening in the US. Markets usually move downwards at the opening and then recover slightly - a trend the JSE hoped to minimise through the added time.
The strategy seems to have worked, with the JSE indices closing off earlier lows after taking heart from the initial trade in US and the European rally. The overall index had been 2.54% down before the US opened, but closed only 1.66% or 135 points down at 7 983 after the extended trading session.
The IT sector ended the day seven points or 2.74% down at 248, while the telecommunications sector was unchanged at 263.
Among the main IT and telecommunications stocks, Dimension Data fell 45c or 3.93% to R11, pulling back from an intraday low of R10.10.
Datatec rose 20c or 1.82% to R11.20 (it had traded as low as R10.75 during the day), and M-Cell climbed 5c or 0.38% to R13.05, off its intraday low of R12.50.
By mid-morning today the JSE`s all share index was down 0.44% at 7 949.3, the rand was trading at R8.66 to the dollar and R12.70 to the pound. The FTSE was 1.41% lower at 4 830.
The IT sector was up marginally at 248.2 points.
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