South African stocks fell on Wednesday as retailer Massmart plunged after flagging lower interim earnings and Glencore reported a drop in first half profits. Shares in the Wal-Mart unit Massmart dipped 8.5 percent to 117 rand, underperforming the 1.4 percent fall in the General Retailers index. The benchmark Top-40 index fell 1.72 percent to 44,686 while All-Share index ended 1.64 percent lower at 50,140 points.
Among other decliners, Johannesburg-listed shares of mining giant Glencore slid 7.5 percent a record low of 32.62 rand after it reported a 29 percent decline in first-half earnings due to falling metal prices.