South Africa's main stock indices fell to their lowest level in nearly four months on Thursday, weighed down by mining shares such as Harmony Gold as metal prices faltered. The market also booked its fourth straight session of declines as the strengthening dollar, which hit a four-year high earlier in the day, pushed spot gold to close to a nine-month high just above $1,200 an ounce.
If the precious metal's spot price falls below $1,200 an ounce the industry could reach a tipping point that would force producers to cut output or shut mines, analysts say. AngloGold Ashanti, Africa's top producer of the precious metal, and Harmony fell between 2 and 3 percent.
Growing worries about the health of the Chinese economy have also weighed on sentiment and the wider resource sector. "We've had negative news out of China and it doesn't look the government will step in with a stimulus and that has hit commodity prices," said Matthew Brittain, a portfolio manager at Sanlam Private Wealth. The JSE Top-40 index lost 1.18 percent to 44,345, a level last seen at the beginning of June. The broader All-share index was off 1.1 percent to 49,503.