South African stocks inched lower on Monday, led by mining shares on faltering metal prices as weak Chinese imports raised concerns over demand in the world's top commodities consumer. Africa's biggest iron ore producer Kumba Iron Ore led the decliners list on the bluechip index, slumping 4.78 percent to 161.50 rand while BHP Billiton, the world's No 3 iron ore miner, gave up 1.58 percent to 251.67 rand.
Iron ore futures in China dropped after data showed imports of the raw material slipped last month. Poultry producers were in the spotlight after Pretoria opened its doors to US chicken imports, which industry players fear may undercut prices set by local producers.
Astral Foods ended 4 percent lower at 172.51 rand and rival Quantum Foods lost 2.75 percent at 3.54 rand. The bluechip JSE Top-40 index inched down 0.11 percent 45,942 and the broader All-share index edged down 0.14 percent to 51,623. Telkom jumped by as much as 4.6 percent after the fixed-line operator resumed dividend payments for the first time in four years as it reported a rise full-year profit and a decrease in debt.
But the stock had given up almost all its gains by the end of session, closing up by a modest 0.02 percent at 65.99 rand. Trade was average with 179 million shares changing hands, compared with last year's daily average of 183 million shares.