Retailers hit by valuation concerns

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.   

"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.