Mining shares weigh on the bourse

MINING shares were under pressure on faltering commodity prices yesterday, with AngloGold Ashanti topping the decliners list on the benchmark index.

The blue chip JSE Top40 index ended 1.06 percent lower at 45 073.61 points, while the broader all share index index was down 0.95 percent at 52 088.56 points.

AngloGold Ashanti dropped 4.39 percent to R157.79, weighed down by ‘sell” rating downgrade from several brokers that include those at Citigroup and stalling momentum in the price of gold.

However, competitor Sibanye Gold inched up 0.29 percent to R28.06 after the company flagged a more than three-fold surge in annual profit.

Elsewhere, Murray & Roberts lost 0.07 percent at R15 after Germany’s ATM Holding said it had bought 25 percent stake in the construction firm, igniting speculation that it might looking for a tie-up with the local company.

Meanwhile, global stocks pulled back from record highs yesterday ahead of minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, which could offer clues about the next interest rate rise.

MSCI’s main index of global stocks, hit a second successive record high at 446.60 points yesterday.