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Johannesburg - South African stocks fell for a
second day on Monday, giving up nearly 1 percent as investors booked profits
after a January rally that pushed Johannesburg’s broadest index to a string of
lifetime highs.
Gold miners such as Harmony Gold and AngloGold Ashanti bucked the
trend, shrugging off the weaker equity market and a decline in the price of
bullion after Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating on both companies to “neutral”
from “sell”.
The All Share [JSE:J203] index shaved 0.78% to 33 629.77, after
climbing to a record high of 34 079.54 on Thursday. The Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index of
bluechips lost 0.92% to 30 044.33.
“Sentiment is still more or less on the positive side. It’s just a
bit of correction - people taking money off the table. Overall, I see us testing
those new levels again,” said Mitchell Gannaway, a trader at Thebe Stockbroking.
Harmony, South Africa’s third-biggest gold miner, added nearly 1.5% to R95.40 after the Goldman Sachs upgrade, pushing it to the top of
the gainers’ list.
AngloGold, the country’s top producer of the precious metal, rose
0.5% to R360.40.
The brokerage downgraded platinum miners Lonmin, Impala and Anglo
American to a “sell”, shunting the three to the bottom among the blue chip
performers.
Lonmin lost 3.7% to R128.49, its worst daily fall in
nearly four months. Implats, the world’s second biggest producer of the metal,
lost 2.75% to R174.27.
Amplats, the world’s top miner of the white metal, shed 2.6%
to R540.
Activity was brisk with 203 million shares trade, according to
preliminary exchange data.
