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Johannesburg - South African stocks fell on Tuesday as commodity prices kept heading lower, but domestic bullion companies got a lift from technical factors and a ratings upgrade for Africa's top producer, AngloGold Ashanti.
Petrochemicals group Sasol fell the most among blue chips, shedding 3.55%, as Brent crude oil fell more than 3% to its lowest in over four years after top exporter Saudi Arabia cut US sales prices.
Iron ore producer Assore lost 2.2% to R211.63 as oversupply caused prices for the key steel-making ingredient to drop to their lowest since 2009.
Amid the gloom over resources, AngloGold extended gains from Monday as HSBC lifted its rating on the stock, calling its latest quarterly results "a solid operational performance."
AngloGold ended 0.83% higher, paring earlier gains of over 6%. It shot up 11.5% on Monday after reporting a sharp drop in third-quarter profit but increased output. It signalled steep spending cuts, a move welcomed by the market.
HSBC lifted its rating on the stock to "overweight" from "neutral", saying "the company looks under-valued at current share price levels".
"AngloGold's share price is presently below January levels and the gold price is virtually unchanged since then. We believe that should risk around the gold price once more abate, we may see a similar recovery develop," it said.
Rival Harmony Gold, which reports its first- quarter financials on Wednesday, rose 3.7%. Johannesburg's Gold Mining Index added 0.71% to 1 008.47 on a technical bounce after some momentum indicators tracked by chartists showed it to be deeply oversold.
The benchmark Top-40 index fell 0.57% to 44 451 and the broader All-Share index dropped 0.47% to 49 788, snapping two straight sessions of gains.
