Johannesburg, Dec 2 (I-Net Bridge) - South African near-dated futures ended 183 points in the red on Friday in thin trade, running out of steam following a good week and amid a firmer rand.
The local near-dated Alsi contract ended 0.62%, or 183 points lower at 29,297 on Friday, having been flat on Thursday, but rallying 3.82% on Wednesday.
The rand traded at 7.9987 against the US dollar, from 8.0876 at the previous close on Thursday, while gold was quoted at US$1,752.48 a troy ounce from US$1,749.16/oz before.
The total number of contracts that exchanged hands was 24,616 from 55,674 on Thursday.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that US stocks opened higher after the US unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped, adding to encouraging headlines suggesting European leaders and central bankers were more willing to tackle the region's debt woes.
US nonfarm payrolls rose by 120,000 last month, while the unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of US households, fell to 8.6% in November from 9.0% the previous month. The rate was now lower than at any point since March 2009, when it was 8.6% as well.
In another positive development, October's figure for nonfarm payroll jobs was revised upward to show a gain of 100,000 from a previously reported 80,000 and September was revised up to a 210,000 gain from 158,000. The median forecast among economists is that payrolls grew by 125,000 last month and the unemployment rate stayed at 9.0%
