S.Africa stocks edge lower; miners hammered

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African stocks edged down on Tuesday, with the benchmark Top-40 index giving up 1 percent as platinum miners were hit again by worries about the impact of labour unrest on the sector.

Losses were limited by a rise in FirstRand, after South Africa's second-largest lender said full-year earnings likely rose as much as 27 percent.

Investors have dumped miners in recent sessions on concerns about spreading labour unrest in the industry, following weeks of protest at Lonmin Plc's Marikana mine.

In addition, nagging worries about the outlook for Europe - a major South African trading partner - have made it easier for investors to sell, said Abri du Plessis, chief investment officer at Gryphon Asset Management in Cape Town.

"Moving money at this time, I think one can only make mistakes," du Plessis said.

"The problems (in Europe) are a lot deeper than the consensus expectations. I think we are going to see a deeper slow-down there."

The Top-40 index fell 1.1 percent to 30,884.69. It hit a lifetime high of 31,714.23 last week.

The broader All-share index gave up 0.9 percent to 35,161.01. It also hit a record high last week.

South African police on Monday fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse striking miners at a gold mine near Johannesburg, the latest outbreak in a wave of labour militancy.

Anglo American Platinum dropped 1.9 percent to 405.00 rand. Rival Impala Platinum fell 2.8 percent to 126.40 rand.

FirstRand rose 1.2 percent to 27.71 rand. The bank said it expected full-year earnings to rise by as much as 27 percent, well above the average of 20 percent growth in a poll of 17 analysts by Thomson Reuters.

Although it did not give a reason for the expected rise, profits were likely boosted by strong performance at its retail and vehicle financing units, said Adrian Cloete, an analyst at Cadiz Asset Management.

Shares of Steinhoff International fell 1.2 percent to 26.20 rand, after South Africa's largest furniture maker reported a 32 percent increase in full-year profit, disappointing investors who were hoping for a better result.

Trade was thin, with 157 million shares changing hands on the exchange during the session, compared with last year's daily average of 255 million shares.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 171 to 114.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/africa-stocks-edge-lower-miners-hammered-055048979--finance.html

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