South African stocks recorded their biggest one-day slip in nearly a year on Thursday.

The All Share Index lost about 2 percent on the back of a “global pullback” from riskier assets to 39.670.09.

Moneyweb reported that the fall came after disappointing earnings dampened investors’ appetite for shares of mining firms such as AngloGold Ashanti.

However, the stock price of Aspen Pharmacare rose over 1 percent to R164.50 after Africa’s biggest generic drugs maker said it was likely to post higher first-half earnings, according to Moneyweb.

“When one looks at the last trading updates of all major mining companies, they have all been at the lower end of expectations, so this sort of a pullback was expected sooner or later,” Moneyweb quoted Greg Davies, an equities trader at Cratos Capital, as saying.

“One cannot have trading updates from Top-40 companies all disappointing and not having an effect on investors.”

The benchmark Top-40 index sagged 2.07 percent to 35.278.23. The index booked its lowest close since December 31. and biggest one-day fall since April 4. 2012.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s rand was steady against the dollar this morning, according to Reuters.

But Reuters reported that the local unit was lacking direction and likely to end the week within its range of the last two weeks, while government bonds remained supported.

The international news agency reported that the rand had been broadly stuck in the 8.80-9.00 for two weeks, meeting strong support at the 9.0 rand level that it tested but left unbroken all of February.

The local unit managed a brief rally through 8.80 resistance at the end of last week, but the move lacked momentum and rand bulls retreated to 8.90 and above since then.