Johannesburg - Stocks were down on Monday as precious metals producers weighed on the bourse.
The benchmark JSE Top40 index inched down 0.26 percent to 44462.75 points, while the all share index slipped 0.22 percent to 51497.16 points.
Gold Fields was the biggest loser among the blue chips, declining 4.23 percent to R41.17 as the shares of most precious metals producers were weaker.
Bidvest also slipped after reporting a 4.4 percent rise in half-year profit. Shares in Bidvest, which said it had $1 billion (R12.9 billion) available for acquisitions, were down 1.02 percent to end the session at R163.31.
Blue Label Telecoms rallied after announcing it had signed the deal that would see the debt of mobile operator CellC, in which it is buying a 45 percent stake, reduced to R6 billion. Blue Label increased 4.55 percent to R18.61.
Meanwhile, world stock markets fell ahead of a key speech by US President Donald Trump.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.03 percent at 20 816.14 points in the afternoon, the Standard & Poor’s 500 had shed 0.01 percent to 2 367.14 points, while the Nasdaq Composite index had added 0.03 percent to 5 846.93 points.
Europe’s benchmark index of leading 300 shares fell 0.1 percent.