Johannesburg - Stocks declined on Monday, led by Lonmin, which came under pressure after its chief operating officer (COO) resigned.
The benchmark JSE Top40 index dropped 0.47 percent to 44425.26 points, while the all share index fell 0.41 percent to 51498.14 points.
Lonmin retreated 8.5 percent to R16.14 after the troubled platinum miner said COO and director Ben Moolman would step down on April 5 for personal reasons.
“[When] one of your top operations guys is leaving, it doesn’t bode very well for the company,” said BP Bernstein trader, Vasili Tirasis.
Among the biggest fallers on the blue chip Top40 index was MTN, which lost 2.89 percent to R120.68.
Read also: Lonmin COO to step down
Anglo American dropped 3.21 percent to R196.84 and Impala Platinum was down 1.77 percent at R41.60.
Meanwhile, US stocks were lower yesterday afternoon amid losses across sectors as investors’ appetite for risk was curbed by geopolitical tensions in Asia and President Donald Trump’s accusation that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped him.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.39 percent at 20924.27 points, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was down 0.57 percent at 2369.51 points and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.66 percent lower at 5832.24 points.