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Johannesburg - South African shares ended lower for the fourth straight day on Wednesday, dragged down by platinum producers such as Anglo American Platinum and also taking a cue from weaker US stocks.
No 1 producer Anglo American Platinum dropped 1.6% to 381.33 rand, following news that Zimbabwe, where it has operations, had issued a January 18 ultimatum for platinum miners to present proposals on refining the metal locally.
Smaller producer Impala Platinum lost 1.5% to R126, while the industry's index shaved more than 1%.
Trade was thin, as investors looked ahead to US jobs data at the end of the week to get further guidance on the state of the world's largest economy.
"The market will be quiet for the next two days. On Friday we've got the US payroll numbers and the markets are waiting for that," said Malcolm Moller, an equities trader at Vunani Securities.
The Top-40 index slid 0.41% to 40,962.55, while the All-share was 0.37% weaker at 45,696.97.
Both indices hit lifetime highs earlier this year, propelled by companies with overseas exposure.
After two days of losing value, gold shares regained their shine as the local currency weakened. The rand fell 0.5% boosting producers such as Harmony, which earn revenue in dollars but make local payments in rand.
Harmony was up 1.3% at R27.60.
In total some 132 million shares were sold, according to preliminary data, but trade could remain feeble for the rest of the week.
US stocks fell in early trade as investors took profits from the S&P 500's biggest daily gain in three weeks, and following a better-than-expected private sector jobs report, which showed the strongest increase in 13 months.
Another employment report, the nonfarm payrolls statistics for December, is expected on Friday.
No 1 producer Anglo American Platinum dropped 1.6% to 381.33 rand, following news that Zimbabwe, where it has operations, had issued a January 18 ultimatum for platinum miners to present proposals on refining the metal locally.
Smaller producer Impala Platinum lost 1.5% to R126, while the industry's index shaved more than 1%.
Trade was thin, as investors looked ahead to US jobs data at the end of the week to get further guidance on the state of the world's largest economy.
"The market will be quiet for the next two days. On Friday we've got the US payroll numbers and the markets are waiting for that," said Malcolm Moller, an equities trader at Vunani Securities.
The Top-40 index slid 0.41% to 40,962.55, while the All-share was 0.37% weaker at 45,696.97.
Both indices hit lifetime highs earlier this year, propelled by companies with overseas exposure.
After two days of losing value, gold shares regained their shine as the local currency weakened. The rand fell 0.5% boosting producers such as Harmony, which earn revenue in dollars but make local payments in rand.
Harmony was up 1.3% at R27.60.
In total some 132 million shares were sold, according to preliminary data, but trade could remain feeble for the rest of the week.
US stocks fell in early trade as investors took profits from the S&P 500's biggest daily gain in three weeks, and following a better-than-expected private sector jobs report, which showed the strongest increase in 13 months.
Another employment report, the nonfarm payrolls statistics for December, is expected on Friday.
