* BHP sees “flattening” iron ore demand from China
* Market closed Wednesday for public holiday
JOHANNESBURG, March 20 (Reuters) – South African shares
wilted on Tuesday on renewed concerns about China’s growth
outlook with resource stocks including Anglo American
leading the wider market down.
The blue-chip Top-40 index fell 1.21 percent to
30,026.43. The broader All-share index ended down about
1 percent at 33,878.56.
It was the market’s second straight day in the red, taking
it further from record highs scaled earlier this year. The
Top-40 was seen as receiving technical support around the 30,000
mark.
The market will be closed on Wednesday for South Africa’s
Human Rights Day holiday.
European stocks also fell amid concern about the scale of
China’s growth slowdown, with Australian iron ore miners
signaling demand growth was finally slowing in response to
Beijing’s moves to cool its economy.
BHP Billiton , the world’s biggest miner,
said it was seeing signs of “flattening” iron ore demand from
China, though for now it was pushing ahead with plans to expand
production further.
BHP’s shares in Johannesburg fell over 3 percent to 238.49
while Anglo American’s local shares sank almost 4 percent to
306.00 rand.
Continued…
