BUSINESS NEWS - South Africa’s main stock index ended lower on Friday, wrapping up its worst week in two years as an extended bull run loses steam, while the rand dropped two percent after strong US jobs data lifted the dollar.
The blue-chip JSE Top-40 index fell 1% to 51,908 points, bringing losses this week to 4.8% - the biggest weekly decline since January 2016.
The broader all-share index fell by the same margin to 58,656.82.
Investors have been piling into equities for much of last month amid growing optimism that the newly-elected ruling party leadership would push through business-friendly policies.
A downbeat tone in major overseas markets also added to the bearish sentiment.
PPC featured on the decliners list after the cement maker said nine-month core profit, or EBITDA, had been affected by a corporate action.
Shares in the company dropped 7.6% to R7.34. PPC’s leadership team spent much of 2017 in merger discussions with companies including AfriSam, Nigeria’s Dangote Cement and Ireland’s CRH.
However, Capitec bucked the trend, jumping more than 9% to R924.27, recovering from a sell-off suffered earlier this week when US firm Viceroy Research published a damning report accusing the lender of overstating its income and assets.
