(Bloomberg) --
South Africa’s main stock index slipped 0.3% on Friday as renewed concern among investors about the coronavirus weakened the appetite for risk assets and caused a pause in the global equities rally.
The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index retreated from Thursday’s record close, narrowing its advance since Monday to 0.7%. The benchmark still extended its run of weekly gains to four, the longest in eight months.
Diversified global mining giants BHP Group Plc and Anglo American Plc weighed heaviest on the market as most metal prices declined in the risk-off sentiment. Both stocks fell 1.4%.
Bank stocks dragged the benchmark lower as the rand declined along with other emerging-market currencies, and a day after South Africa’s central bank left its key lending rate unchanged.
Standard Bank Group Ltd. fell 3.2%, Nedbank Group Ltd. slid 3.2% and Absa Group Ltd. dropped 2.9%. The sector index slumped the most in a month, falling 2.7%.
Mr Price Group Ltd. gained 1.5% in a positive reaction to the retailer’s trading update. An index of South African general retailers edged 0.5% higher.
Global tech investor and benchmark behemoth Naspers Ltd. provided the most support to the overall market, climbing 1.8% to a record high as partly owned Chinese online giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. climbed for a third day in Hong Kong to a fresh-all time closing high. Prosus NV, which holds Naspers’s 31% stake in Tencent, gained 3.3%.
Global luxury retailer Richemont also boosted the main index, gaining 2.2% at the end of a week in which it reported a surge in Chinese sales.
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