Stocks ended lower on Wednesday as a result of a stronger rand, pushed by speculation of a preliminary deal between MTN and Bharti.

At 5pm the JSE all share index had given up 0.56 percent, with resources easing 1.28 percent, gold counters lost 3.90 percent and platinum counters weakened 1.66 percent.

Banks were off 0.70 percent, financials slid 0.40 percent, but industrials gained 0.18 percent.

The rand was bid at 7.47 to the dollar, from 7.51 when the JSE closed on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at $999.55 a troy ounce from $1003.70/oz at the JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1284/oz, from $1280.50/oz at its previous close.

MTN on Wednesday moved to distance itself from reports that it had reached a $24-billion preliminary agreement with Indian telecommunications giant Bharti Airtel to buy each other's shares.

A spokesperson for the group told I-Net Bridge: "We do not comment on market speculation."

Reports out on the wires said that the two communications groups had reached a $24-billion preliminary agreement.

A local trader said: "All international markets have been generally higher today amid more positive sentiment. However, back home a stronger rand has weighed on the market, amid talk of an MTN/Bharti deal.

"A stronger rand has weighed down on commodities, capping their gains, with gold retreating below the 1000 mark again," he said.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that US stocks edged higher Wednesday morning as investors favoured industrial names and commodity producers likely to benefit from a global economic recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was recently up 35 points, or 0.4 percent, at 9532.79. The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.5 percent, the strongest performance of the major indexes.

The dollar remained under pressure, but its slide slowed. That in turn allowed the prices of raw materials traded globally in dollar terms to level off. Gold slipped 30 cents to trade just below $1000 an ounce in New York.

Investors are awaiting the latest Federal Reserve beige book of regional economic indicators, due at 2pm EDT. The Fed has said it is likely to keep interest rates low for some time as the economy heals, and that has pressured the US currency as signs emerge that other economies may be returning to health more quickly.

Wednesday's action has continued the cautiously optimistic tone that has marked post-Labor Day trading so far. Market veterans caution, however, that it could take at least a few more days to establish a clear trend that they would look to continue into the end of the year.

"I'm getting a little more comfortable with this market from a fundamental standpoint," though it also remains prone to short-term swings based on chart-based trading, said portfolio manager Uri Landesman, of ING Investment Management in New York.

Among equity movers on the JSE, Anglo American plc shed 88 cents to 253.37 rand while BHP Billiton eased 1.76 percent to 204.30 rand.

Petrochemicals group Sasol advanced 1.72 percent to 295 rand.

Kumba Iron Ore lost 2.19 percent to 246 rand.

Gold miner AngloGold Ashanti fell 4.68 percent to 312.65 rand, Goldfields gave up 3.20 percent to 106 rand and Harmony shed 3.28 percent to 84.64 rand.

Platinum miner Anglo Platinum dropped 1.01 percent to 683 rand, along with Impala Platinum down 1.99 percent to 187.29 rand and Lonmin declined 4.23 percent to 204 rand.

Diversified miner African Rainbow moved 1.44 percent higher to 158.05 rand.

Highveld Steel shipped 2.89 percent to 75.55 rand.

Metorex edged up 4.86 percent to 3.88 rand. The mining group earlier reported diluted headline earnings per share of 23.9 cents for the year ended June 2009 from 129.3 cents a year ago.

This excludes the effect of impairment charges of R2.3-billion - R1.6-billion after taxation and minorities, the company said.

Earnings for the year amounted to a loss of 272.38 from earnings of 159.4 cents last year.

Elsewhere on the JSE, British American Tobacco picked up 1.08 rand to 238.81 rand, Bidvest added 1.43 percent to 117 rand and Imperial was up 6.43 percent to 76.47 rand.

Among bankers Abil garnered 2.67 percent to 28.88 rand, but RMB Holdings dropped 2.59 percent to 26 rand.

Sanlam lost 3.19 percent to 20.31 rand.

Discovery weakened 2.40 percent to 27.70 rand.

Retailer JD Group added 1.59 percent to 41.61 rand, with Massmart up 2.21 percent to 80.03 rand.

Construction and engineering group Aveng rose 5.36 percent to 40.30 rand. The group earlier reported diluted headline earnings per share of 477.6 cents for the year ended June 2009, down 11 percent from 535.7 cents a year ago.

The dividend was maintained at 145 cents per share.

The group reported a 14 percent increase in revenue to R33.8-billion, while operating profit declined by 13 percent to R2.1-billion.

Murray & Roberts collected 6.43 percent to 55.61 rand, Group 5 profited 3.05 percent to 40.05, rand, and Basil Read Holding climbed 2.57 percent higher to 15.95 rand.

Vehicle tracking solutions company DigiCore Holdings was down 3.65 percent to 3.70 rand. It earlier reported diluted headline earnings per share of 35.5 cents for the year ended June 2009 from 60.5 cents a year ago.

The 16 percent reduction in turnover for the year to R576-million contributed to a negative effect of 45 percent on operating profit, reducing it from R204-million to R113-million.

Swiss based luxury goods group Richemont waned 3.49 percent to 20.75 rand. At the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, shareholders approved the results for the year, including the proposals of the board of directors for the appropriation of retained earnings. A dividend of CHF 0.30 per Richemont share will be paid on the 'A' bearer shares on 14 September.

Telecommunications group MTN Group collected 1.92 percent to 127 rand. Vodacom declined 2.40 percent to 55 rand.

Media group Naspers N dropped 1.61 percent to 244 rand, but Caxton rose three cents to 11.66 rand. The group reported a 24.1 percent decline in headline earnings per share from 135.2 cents to 102.6 cents for the year ended June.

Headline earnings per share excluding discontinued operations amounted to 87.4 cents compared to 123.7 cents in the previous year - a decline of 29.4 percent.

The Board has declared a dividend of 40 cents (2008: 52 cents) per share payable to ordinary shareholders and a preference dividend of 357 cents (2008: 464 cents) per preference share to preference shareholders.

I-Net Bridge