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JSE eases off after four-week charge

Johannesburg - South African stocks ended a four-week bull run on Tuesday as concerns about falling metal prices, ratings downgrades and a broader emerging market sell-off hit heavyweight mining companies.

The eight worst performers on the blue-chip index were all resource firms producing either gold, platinum or iron.

Diversified mining group Exxaro sunk more than 4%, the biggest drop on the Top-40 index. The blue-ship benchmark was down 0.4% to 44 981 and the All-share shed 0.3% to 50 355.

Spot platinum prices remained below $1 200 and while gold recouped some losses from the previous session, one hedge fund expects bullion to fall towards $800-$900 an ounce, levels last seen during the financial crisis.

The spot price for iron ore is currently at $75.50, down 40% this year.

Ratings agencies have also underscored fears about the South African economy, slapping the country and some companies with a string of credit downgrades.

"On the back of that, we are not too popular on the world markets at the moment, and that is one of the reasons why the South African market is seeing a bit of a hit at the moment," said Bruno van Eck, a trader at Thebe Stockbroking.

Standard & Poor's affirmed power utility Eskom's BBB- rating with a negative outlook, citing risks involved with a government financial support package.

The move followed Moody's ratings downgrade of the five biggest banks by a notch on Monday.

Bullion producer AngloGold Ashanti lost more than 3 percent despite news it planned to cut staff through voluntary severance packages.

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Rand - Dollar
18.97
-0.4%
Rand - Pound
23.98
-0.3%
Rand - Euro
20.51
-0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.36
-0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.4%
Platinum
906.75
+1.1%
Palladium
1,015.63
+1.4%
Gold
2,206.97
+0.6%
Silver
24.60
-0.2%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,261
+0.9%
All Share
74,453
+0.7%
Resource 10
56,939
+2.3%
Industrial 25
103,989
+0.7%
Financial 15
16,492
-0.2%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
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