South African stocks slid on Friday in line with equities markets elsewhere as investors fretted about the prospect of a global economic slowdown, but analysts said Johannesburg could rally next week on technical factors. Dim global growth prospects mean a grim outlook for commodity prices with the likes of petrochemicals giant Sasol falling 3.9 percent and Impala Platinum shedding 4.9 percent in a broad-based resource sell off.
Among bluechips, Africa's top bullion producer AngloGold Ashanti was the biggest decliner, skidding 5.6 percent to 120.70 rand, its lowest level in 10 months. Bucking the downward trend of its industry peers, iron ore producer Assore leapt 5 percent to 225.91 rand in a technical rebound after charts suggested it had strayed deeply into oversold territory. It is still down about 51 percent from its year peak of over 462 rand reached in March as it has steadily lost ground in the face of mounting concerns about Chinese growth, which has hit iron ore prices. The overall Johannesburg market could follow Assore in a technical upswing, with the 14-day RSI - a momentum indicator tracked by some chartists - showing the main indices are oversold and due for a bump.