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Johannesburg - South African stocks ended slightly lower on Friday as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine undermined demand for risky assets, adding to growing worries about valuations.
Truworths [JSE:TRU] headed the losers' list, tumbling 3.6% to R72 after the clothes retailer reported a slowdown in annual sales growth.
Overall, investors took their cue from falling overseas markets after a Malaysian airliner was downed near the Ukraine-Russia border and Israel stepped up a ground assault against Gaza militants.
Concerns that South African equities were overpriced after the main indices hit a chain of record highs also weighed on sentiment.
"I think the case is very strong for a pullback before the end of the quarter, because the third quarter is historically volatile and weak," said Evan Giannakis, a trader at Imara SP Reid.
The JSE All-share index was down 0.18% at 51 695 and the blue-chip Top 40 index fell by the same margin to 46 558.
Alexander Forbes Preference Share Investment [JSE:AFP] (Afpref) bucked the downward trend on the bourse, rising 6% to R8.80.
Afpref houses about 30% of soon-to-be-listed pension fund manager Alexander Forbes, which raised $347m in an initial public offering on Friday.
Tsogo Sun [JSE:TSH] gained 4.65% after a major shareholder, SABMiller [JSE:SAB] sold its $1bn stake, a move that could spark a valuation re-rating of the tightly-held stock.
A total of 150 million shares changed hands, below last year's daily average of about 176 million shares. A total of 132 shares advanced, while 171 declined and 52 were unchanged.
Truworths [JSE:TRU] headed the losers' list, tumbling 3.6% to R72 after the clothes retailer reported a slowdown in annual sales growth.
Overall, investors took their cue from falling overseas markets after a Malaysian airliner was downed near the Ukraine-Russia border and Israel stepped up a ground assault against Gaza militants.
Concerns that South African equities were overpriced after the main indices hit a chain of record highs also weighed on sentiment.
"I think the case is very strong for a pullback before the end of the quarter, because the third quarter is historically volatile and weak," said Evan Giannakis, a trader at Imara SP Reid.
The JSE All-share index was down 0.18% at 51 695 and the blue-chip Top 40 index fell by the same margin to 46 558.
Alexander Forbes Preference Share Investment [JSE:AFP] (Afpref) bucked the downward trend on the bourse, rising 6% to R8.80.
Afpref houses about 30% of soon-to-be-listed pension fund manager Alexander Forbes, which raised $347m in an initial public offering on Friday.
Tsogo Sun [JSE:TSH] gained 4.65% after a major shareholder, SABMiller [JSE:SAB] sold its $1bn stake, a move that could spark a valuation re-rating of the tightly-held stock.
A total of 150 million shares changed hands, below last year's daily average of about 176 million shares. A total of 132 shares advanced, while 171 declined and 52 were unchanged.
