South Africa stocks end flat as gold strike nears end

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African stocks ended little changed on Friday, as investor relief that a three-day gold mining strike had all but ended was tempered by a report showing U.S. jobs growth was less than expected in August. On the upside, Capitec Bank Holdings surprised investors with news its first-half earnings likely rose as much as 22 percent, sending its shares over 4 percent higher to 193.00 rand. But shares in Harmony Gold fell 2.4 percent after it emerged its miners were the only ones remaining on strike after their colleagues at other producers accepted pay hikes of 8 percent, far below the 15 to 60 percent the National Union of Mineworkers had been seeking. Rival Sibanye climbed 4 percent as its workers returned to work. Sibanye was also helped by bullion's price jumping over 2 percent after U.S. non-farm payrolls data missed forecasts, curbing expectations the Federal Reserve will soon start paring back its $85 billion monthly bond-buying programme. "Some of our gold stocks are looking better because of the strike ending but the U.S. data did not help the overall market," said Abri du Plessis, chief investment officer at Gryphon Asset Management. Johannesburg's blue-chip Top-40 index eked out a tiny 0.06 percent gain to 38,422.11. The broader All-share index ended 0.09 percent higher at 42,837.71.