Johannesburg bourse closes lower

JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) eased a little on Friday ahead of a key address by newly sworn-in president Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa was sworn on a day earlier following the resignation of former president Jacob Zuma.

The all-share index was off 0.69 percent to 59,122.34, with the blue-chip top 40 index falling 0.86 percent, industrials 0.56 percent, resources 0.46 percent and financials 1.18 percent.

On Thursday, the benchmark index leapt nearly 4 percent, coinciding with a political transition in which Ramaphosa officially became the new head of state.

Ramaphosa was scheduled to deliver the state of the nation address at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, setting the scene for the delivery of the budget next week, which some regard as the biggest event to the local economy.

Kumba Iron Ore slipped 4.24 percent to R332.15 but Exxaro Resources leapt 3.45 percent to R150.

Diversified industrial group Bidvest gave up 3.52 percent to R242.06 and Imperial 1 percent to R279.68.

Private equity group Brait continued its recovery, adding another 6.58 percent to R45.21, bringing cumulative gains for the week to 22 percent.

Scandal-plagued Steinhoff shed 1.81 percent to R5.44 and Mr Price 3.04 percent to R282.92.

Resilient was down 10.03 to R76.25, following reports that it will soon be shuffled out of the top-40 index. Enditem