South African stocks ended lower on Friday with financial shares slipping on views the US Federal Reserve would slow down a monetary easing programme that has boosted emerging market assets. US data released late on Thursday painted a positive picture for employment and factory production in the world's biggest economy, signalling strength that could lead the Federal Reserve to slow down the stimulus.
Losses cut across the benchmark Top-40 Index, which fell 1.54 percent to 36,029.71. The broader All-share index was down 1.45 percent to 40,549.40. Insurer Sanlam fell 4.09 percent to 46.89 rand, while industrial conglomerate Bidvest ended down 3.37 percent to 244 rand.
Capitec Bank, South Africa's second-largest provider of unsecured loans, shed 0.51 percent to 184.04 rand, posting its largest weekly loss in 10 months. The biggest decliner on the Top-40 index was Kumba Iron Ore, which slipped 4.27 percent to 447.50 rand. Stocks that bucked the trend included Harmony Gold, which rose 1.39 percent to 34.30 rand after the bullion producer said its June quarter gold output was likely to be 10 to 12 percent higher than in the previous quarter.
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