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JSE ends lower as commodities weigh

Johannesburg - South African stocks ended Friday slightly lower as subdued commodity prices and concerns about Chinese growth pulled resource shares down, although other sectors were propped up by global market relief over the outcome of Scotland's referendum.

Shares on the back foot included iron ore producer Kumba, which shed 1.15%.

Bullion producers were also under pressure as the precious metal was poised for its third straight weekly drop in the face of dollar gains, with Johannesburg's Gold Mining index shedding 0.15%.

On the upside, shares of e-commerce firm Naspers [JSE:NPN] added 2.1%, extending gains from the previous session after brokerage house UBS raised its rating for the group to 'buy' from 'neutral'.

UBS cited "the structural growth opportunities in both its PayTV business, and unlisted internet assets."

World equities rallied on Friday as Scotland's decision to stay in the United Kingdom lifted Europe and got investors over the latest in a recent run of tricky global political hurdles, helping minimise losses in Johannesburg where the market was positive for much of the session.

The benchmark Top-40 index slipped 0.14% to 46 163 while the wider All-share index dropped 0.16% to 51 462.

Both indices remain near life highs scaled in July but with commodity prices on the wane, the market might struggle to reach them again anytime soon.

"The commodity story is not looking great, so for the overall JSE I can’t see what else can push us higher at the moment," said Abri du Plessis, chief investment officer at Gryphon Asset Management.

"The rest of the market is just being pulled up by easy monetary policy globally.”

* Fin24 is part of Media24, a subsidiary of Naspers.

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Rand - Dollar
18.88
+0.3%
Rand - Pound
23.86
+0.2%
Rand - Euro
20.39
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.31
+0.2%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.2%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
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