Johannesburg - South African stocks moved sideways in sluggish trade on Friday, capping a lacklustre week in which investors refused to take big bets given uncertainty over the US government shutdown.
However, shares of major telecoms companies MTN Group and Vodacom could fall on Monday after the telecoms regulator said after the close of trade it planned to cut the fee mobile operators charge rivals to use their network by up to 75%.
Investors around the world took a cautious tack on fears the budget stand-off in the United States would drag on until a crucial deadline to raise the country's debt limit.
"The market is directionless because of the concerns about the US government. Nobody is willing to short the market or go long," said Abri du Plessis, chief investment officer at Gryphon Asset Management in Cape Town.
The benchmark Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index edged down 0.22% to 39 285.17. For the week it fell 1.2%.
The broader All Share [JSE:J203] index gave up 0.18% to 43 925.68.
A few small-cap stocks bucked the trend.
Value Group, a distribution and warehousing firm, rose 8.8% to R6.8 after it said first-half profits likely rose as much as 20%, helped by cost cuts.
Trade was slow with just 139 million shares changing hands according to preliminary bourse data.
A total of 147 shares declined, 132 advanced and 59 were unchanged.
However, shares of major telecoms companies MTN Group and Vodacom could fall on Monday after the telecoms regulator said after the close of trade it planned to cut the fee mobile operators charge rivals to use their network by up to 75%.
Investors around the world took a cautious tack on fears the budget stand-off in the United States would drag on until a crucial deadline to raise the country's debt limit.
"The market is directionless because of the concerns about the US government. Nobody is willing to short the market or go long," said Abri du Plessis, chief investment officer at Gryphon Asset Management in Cape Town.
The benchmark Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index edged down 0.22% to 39 285.17. For the week it fell 1.2%.
The broader All Share [JSE:J203] index gave up 0.18% to 43 925.68.
A few small-cap stocks bucked the trend.
Value Group, a distribution and warehousing firm, rose 8.8% to R6.8 after it said first-half profits likely rose as much as 20%, helped by cost cuts.
Trade was slow with just 139 million shares changing hands according to preliminary bourse data.
A total of 147 shares declined, 132 advanced and 59 were unchanged.