JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African stocks fell for the first time in three sessions on Monday as investors cashed in Woolworths and other retailers after recent gains, while a second illegal strike in 10 days hit miner Gold Fields.
Shares of Sasol climbed 2.6 percent to 383.66 rand after the petrochemicals group booked a 25 percent rise in full-year profit and gave an upbeat 2013 outlook.
"We have seen a lot of the retail shares running into very high (price-to-earnings) ratios, perhaps people are rebalancing their portfolios," said Greg Davies, equities trader at Cratos Capital.
The blue-chip Top-40 index closed down 0.59 percent at 31,343.21. The broader All-share index was down 0.61 percent at 35,524.90.
Big losers included high-end clothing retailers Woolworths and Truworths. Woolworths, up 44 percent so far this year, fell 4.5 percent to 56.10 rand while Truworths, up 20 percent year to date, shed 4 percent to 88.75 rand.
Gold Fields fell 2.2 percent 106 rand. The company said 15,000 workers downed tools in an illegal strike at its KDC West operation as mining unrest spreads.
Rival Harmony Gold fell 2.3 percent to 71.59 rand.
Top-gainers were Sasol, Impala Platinum, which added 4.9 percent to 145.55 rand and African Bank, up 2.9 percent to 33.05 rand.
Trade was thin, with 178 million shares changing hands on the bourse compared to last year's daily average of 255 million.
Decliners outpaced advancers 177 to 111, while 70 stocks were unchanged.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/african-stocks-fall-strike-hits-gold-fields-153543747--finance.html
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