S.Africa stocks end lower on profit-taking, miners hit

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African stocks edged lower on Monday as gold miner Harmony Gold extended losses on a surprise quarterly loss, and as investors bet some equities in Africa's largest economy might be overheated.

Almost all resource stocks and some financials slipped into negative territory after booking sharp rises in recent sessions, when both the JSE All-Share index and the benchmark Top-40 index hit record highs.

"We've seen some all-time highs recently, so to see some profit-taking is really not a surprise," said Ferdi Heyneke, a portfolio manager at Afrifocus Securities.

"But it's a mixed market and you're still seeing some buying in some of the defensive shares."

The Top-40 index closed 0.24 percent lower at 31,299.77, while the broader All-share index lost 0.21 percent to 35,471.07.

Harmony slipped 6.15 percent to 75.42 rand, extending a sell-off of the stock on Friday following its surprise fourth-quarter loss.

Other losers included bigger rivals AngloGold Ashanti, down 2.5 percent, and Gold Fields, down 2.1 percent.

Lonmin, the world's third-largest platinum miner, continued to slip and ended 3.99 percent lower in Johannesburg following violent clashes at one of its mines which saw 44 striking miners killed and dozens injured.

Spot platinum on Monday hit its highest level since July following the violence and retreated only slightly after news that operations at Lonmin's Marikana mine had resumed when about a third of its workers returned to work.

South Africa produces 75 percent of the world's platinum, so any threat to output can have a significant impact on prices.

The gainers were led by Africa's top telecom group MTN, which closed up 2.3 percent At 155.19 rand, as investors were looking for more defensive stocks and big dividend payers in a low interest rate environment.

MTN's dividend yield is 4.9 percent, making it the fourth-highest on the Top-40.

Retailers Woolworths and Shoprite also ended higher, up 1.94 percent and 1.45 percent, respectively.

The world's top platinum producers Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum, which together supply some two-thirds of the global platinum, also closed higher.

"These two shares are really rock-bottom at the moment and there might be a bit of interest in them at these lower levels, but they still remain very volatile," Heyneke added.

Trade volumes were low, with some 143 million shares changing hands, according to latest bourse statistics, compared with last year's daily average of 225 million shares.

Decliners outnumbered advancers at 147 to 133. A total of 64 stocks were unchanged.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/africa-stocks-end-lower-profit-taking-miners-hit-160330181--finance.html

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