Stocks fell led by rand hedge shares that weakened on the back of a strengthening currency.

At 1500 the rand was 0.5 percent firmer at 13.9900 per dollar compared to close of 14.0600 overnight in New York.

The rand touched a session best of 13.9075, driven initially by a dollar slide on reports US President Donald Trump would nominate a dovish candidate to head the Federal Reserve.

With no data releases on the local front, the currency's gains further supported indication the overhaul of US tax code would falter due to lack of detail.

"The immediate reaction to the tax proposals wasn't dollar positive. And the announcement that Powell is expected to be the next Fed chair also helped the rand," said currency dealer at TreasuryOne Andre Botha.

"For the next couple of days you might see the rand holding below 14.00 especially after tonight if we see Powell confirmed," Botha said.

A walk-out of a parliamentary answer session by the main opposition, saying President Jacob Zuma refused to answer how much the state had spent on legal fees to fight corruption allegations against him, had little effect on currency.

Bonds were weaker, with the yield on the benchmark paper due in 2026 adding 2 basis points to 9.04 percent.

On the bourse, the benchmark Top-40 index fell 0.4 percent to 52,846 points while the All-Share index dropped 0.31 percent to 59,331 points.

Rand-hedged stocks, which make the bulk of their revenue outside South Africa and tend to weaken as the currency strengthens, fell on the back of gains in the rand.

The biggest fallers on the Johannesburg Top 40 index included British American Tobacco, which fell 0.85 percent to 906.04 rand, Richemont dropped 1.49 percent to 127.76 rand and bourse heavy-weight Naspers weakened by 1.25 percent to 3431.46 rand.

Curbing further losses, retailer The Foschini Group (TFG) rose 2.81 percent to 142.70 rand on the back on better than expected half-year earnings forecast.