The decline in the index at that stage was driven by decreases in the share prices of financial institutions, non-gold-mining companies and the industrial consumer sector. From February 2000, when the dollar price of gold fell below $ per fine ounce, the gold-mining shares declined by 17% up to the end of April.
The general surge internationally in the share prices of the information sector at first supported the prices of these industries in South Africa, but information technology share prices weakened markedly from mid-March. Although conditions in the share market are still volatile, price movements have shown a distinct upward trend since the middle of April 2000.