Johannesburg - South Africa's stocks fell for the third day running on Tuesday, tracking global equity markets lower on resurgent worries over the global banking sector.
The JSE top-40 index of blue-chip stocks fell 1.21% to 18 516.63 points while the broader all-share index was down 1.09% to 20 492.53 points.
Mining heavyweight, Anglo American dropped 2.43% to R174.75 and rival BHP Billiton slipped 1.18% to R183.60.
Africa's biggest steel maker ArcelorMittal SA fell 3.67% to R79.50 after the local unit of the world's No.1 steel maker said it has bought 16.3% in Coal of Africa (CoAL) for R404.5m in cash. Shares in CoAL, however rose 10.24% to seven rand.
Gold miners restricted the losses on the bourse, as the price of bullion firmed.
"We're off from the tops of last week, Wall Street is also paring gains but there's a bit of buying for gold stocks ... the gold price is looking good, the weaker rand is also providing a cushion," one Johannesburg trader said.
AngloGold Ashanti rose 6.84% to R292.75, making it the best performer among the blue-chip stocks. Rival Gold Fields added 5.74% to R100.62 and Harmony was 1.56% higher at R85.21.
- Reuters