Retail stocks remain under pressure

Woolworths shed 4.31% to R63.49‚ The Foschini Group fell 5.20% to R124.40‚ while Massmart gave back 3% to R181 and Mr Price closed at R126.25‚ 5.25% down.

The food and drug retailers index‚ which includes Shoprite‚ closed 2.74% lower.

Retail shares have had a stellar run over the past year‚ as the seemingly insatiable appetite of foreign investors in search of higher yield continued to drive valuation‚ boosted by hype over the rest of Africa's growth prospects.

South African retailers have exposure to the rest of Africa. However‚ concern from local market players has been that the price-to-earnings ratios of local retail companies have been unsustainably high‚ with retail counters not pricing in the risk of a slowdown in consumer spending.

PSG Konsult portfolio manager Drikus Combrinck‚ Portfolio Manager at PSG Konsult said: "We are busy in a rerating here. Retail shares have been expensive for a long time - a lot of analysts and traders have said that.

"They've been waiting for a catalyst and a few earnings disappointments have come through and with that there's a bit of sector rotation into resources.

"I don't know how far the re-rating is‚ but I'm not expecting a big down spell. A rerating is a rerating - it's not a sell-off and a bounce back to the highs."

Shoprite Holdings had its biggest one-day drop in more than six years on Monday‚ plunging close to 6% on Monday after an operational update fell short of market expectations.

Africa's biggest grocer said that for the six months ending December 2012‚ turnover rose by about 13.8% to R46.7bn. Growth on a like-for-like basis was 6.9%.

Similarly‚ a sales update from Massmart Holdings‚ whose portfolio includes the Game‚ Dion Wired and Builders Warehouse chains‚ underwhelmed.

The group‚ 51% owned by US giant Walmart‚ said last week sales for the 26 weeks to December 23 increased to R36.1bn‚ representing growth of 14.6% over the prior period. Comparable store sales rose by 7.3%.