JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Share prices on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) declined sharply on Monday as investors took profit, with the financial sector heavily affected.
The all-share index was off 1.28 percent to 60,806.90 points at close, while the blue-chip top 40 was down 1.22 percent to 53,863.76 points.
Banks and financials tumbled 4.45 percent and 3.64 percent respectively, bearing the brunt of the selling in particular, along with property stocks.
The South African rand was at R11.9776 to the dollar, from R11.8569 previously, after hitting R12.0194 in intraday trade. It was at R14.8335 to the euro from R14.784 and at R16.8531 to the pound from R16.8286.
Locally, investors are still having a wait-and-see attitude following Cyril Ramaphosa's ascendancy to the ANC leadership, a development that urged optimism about the local economy. The stocks were also under pressure, amid profit-taking following a big rally since December.
The weaker rand assisted the big diversified miners to be in positive territories.
FirstRand eased 4.34 percent to R67.2, Standard Bank 4.19 percent to R200.01, Barclays Africa 4.07 percent to R176 and Capitec 7.97 percent to R943.9.
Sanlam dropped 4.42 percent to R86.5, Discovery 5.79 percent to R174.9 and Rand Merchant Holdings 2.48 percent to R46.03.
Growthpoint shed 1.71 percent to R28.19, Redefine Properties 4.34 percent to R10.8 and Resilient 7.98 percent to R117.
Woolies shed 1.09 percent to R66.37, Shoprite 1.42 percent to R243.01 and Mr price 1.34 percent to R280.93.
Vodacom slipped 2.47 percent to R158.97 after staging a strong recovery over recent days. MTN dropped 1.27 percent R 133.04.
Remgro retreated 2.24 percent to R238.53 and PSG Group 7.58 percent to R265 , dragged down mainly by Capitec.
Exxaro Resources was up 2.8 percent to R147 and BHP 1.61 percent to R270.20. Enditem
