Johannesburg - South African stocks fell on Tuesday as iron ore prices continued their downward march, hitting companies such as ArcelorMittal, but platinum producers shined due to a slightly softer dollar.
The benchmark Top-40 index fell 0.98% to 43 500 while the broader All-Share index skidded 0.92% to 48 712.
Steel producer ArcelorMittal fell 2.4% to R37.50 as iron ore prices hovered near five-year lows, while Kumba Iron Ore slid 2.6 percent to R272.50.
Spot iron ore in Asia ticked up to $80 a tonne on Tuesday but the price is down 40 percent from the start of the year and hit a five-year low of $77.50 last week amid concerns about a slowdown in China, the world's top consumer of iron ore.
Platinum producers bucked the downward trend, with the Johannesburg-listed sub-index up 3.9 percent on the back of a stronger spot platinum price.
Anglo American Platinum was the biggest climber in the Top-40, jumping 5.3% to R374, its largest daily gain in more than a year.
Smaller rival Impala Platinum rose 1.8% to R88.5.
"Platinum is having a good day. It was hit quite hard last week and the feeling is that it was oversold," said Rabi Thithi, an equities trader at Avior Research.
A below-average 161 million shares changed hands. Decliners narrowly edged out advancers, 127 to 121.