South African stocks retreat from record high, Abil soars
But African Bank Investments (Abil) surged after the lender said it was in talks to sell its money-losing furniture retail unit.
One of the worst performing stocks on the bourse this year, Abil soared 17.4 percent to 7.90 rand as investors welcomed the possibility of fresh capital for the lender hammered by bad debts and a credit downgrade.
Emerging markets have once again become must-haves in yield-hungry fund managers' portfolios as interest rates in the West remain low and the outlook for the Chinese economy shows signs of improvement.
Impala Platinum gave up 1.3 percent to 111.30 rand after the platinum producer said about 2,000 workers went on a wildcat strike over higher pay.
Trade was relatively slow with about 154 million shares, changing hands, according to bourse data, compared with last year's daily average of 176 million.
Decliners outnumbered advancers, 168 to 138, while 57 shares were unchanged.