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Johannesburg - South African stocks ended flat on Friday as a 9% surge in e-commerce and media giant Naspers was offset by a sell-off in mining companies, which were hit by tumbling metal prices.
Naspers, Africa's largest company by market value, hit a record high in intraday trade after it said it would tie up with Norway's Schibsted in some emerging markets, including fast-growing Brazil where they have battled each other for years.
It finished up 9% at R1 555.00.
"It's very important that the two top players in Brazil are joining forces, locking in the market in a way that makes it difficult for new entrants," said Per Gunnar Nordahl, an analyst at Norway's Arctic Securities.
The benchmark Top-40 index ended up 0.03% at 45 134. The broad All-Share index ticked up 0.02% to 50 598.
Shares of AngloGold Ashanti, Africa's largest gold producer, dropped 3.3% to R96.25.
Gold slid 1% to $1 150 an ounce, remaining pinned below the $1 200 price that is seen a "tipping point" by some analysts that will herald shaft closures.
For the last six months, South African gold producers have underperformed the metal price, with the Johannesburg index of gold mining companies dropping by a third while gold has lost about 10 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Platinum miners were also hammered, as the precious metal fell to a five-year low of $1 179.50 an ounce. That put it below an important technical level of $1 183.00, which means a further decline could be on the cards.
Impala Platinum dropped 3.7% to R78.02.
Trade was active 225 million shares changing hands, well above last year's daily average of 176 million.
Naspers shares saw a surge in volume, with 3.9 million shares changing hands, more than treble its five-day average.
