South African Stocks Fall as Weak Miners Eclipse Rising Banks

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s main stock benchmark drops for a fourth day, falling 0.2% by 9:42 a.m. in Johannesburg, with weakness in index giant Naspers Ltd, and a downturn in miners countering a resurgence in banks and gains in heavyweight Richemont.

• Naspers, with an 18% weighting on the index, falls for a second day, down 0.5% to provide the biggest drag to the index, as partly owned Tencent Holdings Ltd retreats in Hong Kong.
• BHP Group Ltd. (-0.7%) leads 0.4% drop in the index for mining stocks
  • Sub-index for gold companies falls for a second day, down 1.9%, as the rand price of bullion drops to the lowest since March 20.
    • AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. -1.5%, Gold Fields Ltd. -1%, Harmony Gold Mining Co. -3.1%, Pan African Resources Plc -2.1%, DRDGold Ltd. -1.7%
  • Index for platinum companies up 0.1%
    • Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. +0.7%, Northam Platinum Ltd. +0.8%, Anglo American Platinum Ltd. +0.5%
    • Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. -0.5%, Royal Bafokeng Platinum Ltd. -1.3%
• Richemont extends gains to a second day, rising 0.6% to provide biggest boost to the index.
• Index for bank stocks up 0.4% as the rand strengthens. Fitch Ratings upgraded the five listed banks, saying they have significant headroom to withstand current pressures on the operating environment.
  • NOTE: Fitch Upgrades National Ratings of Five South African Banks
    • Standard Bank Group Ltd. +0.4%, Nedbank Group Ltd. +3%, Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd. +0.1%, Absa Group Ltd. +0.6%, FirstRand Ltd. +0.2%
• Foreigners remained net buyers of South African stocks for a 12th consecutive day Tuesday, purchasing 1.02 billion rand worth of shares, according to exchange operator JSE Ltd.

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