Johannesburg - Shares of Mr Price Group [JSE:MPC],
Woolworths Holdings [JSE:WHL], Shoprite Holdings [JSE:SHP] and other blue-chip
South African retailers fell, hit by concerns they were overbought after months
of aggressive gains.
The five biggest decliners on the Top 40 - (Tradeable)
[JSE:J200] Index were retailers.
Sentiment may be souring after Shoprite, Africa's top grocer,
on Monday reported first-half sales that fell short of market expectations,
sending its shares down nearly 6%.
"There's a switch from the retailers into the mining
stocks. There's recognition that these sectors (retailers) are way overbought
in this market at the moment," said Bruno van Eck from Thebe Stockbroking.
Mr Price was down 3.9% at R128.11, while Woolworths dropped
3% to R64.38. Shoprite was down 1.9% at R184.53.
Woolworths gained 80% last year while Shoprite notched up
50% of gains in 2012.
"They've seen some massive profits. It's good to see
something coming off the table. Markets have got to be flattened out, you can't
have one sector just flying, some kind of bubble will start to appear,"
van Eck said.
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