At 9.30am Steinhoff was down 51.81% to R22‚ with all companies linked to Wiese experiencing selling pressure. Steinhoff African Retail‚ after opening 20% lower‚ was down 13.62% at R21.25 as CEO Ben la Grange also decided to step down.
KAP Industrial Holdings dropped 7.73% to R8 and Brait 5.64% to R42.02. Bucking the trend‚ Wiese’s newly acquired diamond interests in Trans Hex were up 3.09% to R2.
The all share was 0.86% lower at 58‚467.70 points and the blue-chip top 40 fell 0.84%. Industrials shed 1.59%‚ resources 0.37% and general retailers 0.20%. The gold index rose 0.56% and property 0.46%‚ passing its previous best level recorded in July 2016.
Market heavyweight Naspers‚ which is also facing a potentially debilitating law suit involving a class suit in the US‚ lost 3.98% to R3‚379.95. Chinese internet company Tencent‚ of which Naspers owns about a third‚ lost 1.5% in Hong Kong trade as tech shares retreated on a weaker close on the Dow.
The Dow closed 0.45% lower at 24‚180.64 points on Tuesday after a tech-led bounce failed to hold on to its gains.
Asian markets continued to slide‚ with mining companies dragging the MSCI Asia-Pacific index lower for the eighth day. The Nikkei 225 shed 1.97% and the Hang Seng 1.58%.
Anglo American dropped 1.42% to R244.48.
Nedbank lost 0.87% to R231.26‚ but Standard Bank gained 0.28% to R181.
UK property group Hammerson was flat at R97‚ but Intu jumped 22.17% to R44.21 after Hammerson announced an all-share offer to acquire Intu’s entire issued share capital.
Nepi Rockcastle added 1.32% to R214.79.
Sappi was 0.79% lower at R94. The group announced on Tuesday an intention to acquire a speciality paper business in Europe.