Kumba tumbles as S.Africa stocks ease ahead of Easter weekend

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African stocks eased marginally on Thursday ahead of public holidays on Friday and Monday, with investors cautious in advance of U.S. non-farm payrolls data which will help set the tone for next week. Kumba Iron Ore was the biggest blue-chip decliner during the session, sinking over almost 6 percent to new six-year troughs, as the commodity's price remained pinned near record lows below $50 a tonne in the face of a supply glut. The Anglo American unit ended the session 5.9 percent down at 139.90 rand, its lowest level since February 2009, according to Thomson Reuters data. Overall, prices were little changed as players preferred not to lock themselves in ahead of the four-day Easter long weekend. "It's wait and see ahead of the long weekend, and no one wants to be too heavy in the market when the big data points come out on Friday," said Lloyd Priestman, a markets analyst at Caleo Capital. "We will have a big data number and then two lost trading days, so Tuesday will be catch up." U.S. non-farm payrolls are expected to show a spike of 245,000 jobs in March, according to Reuters poll, but disappointing U.S. private sector employment and manufacturing data on Wednesday data hit U.S. equities and reinforced concerns that the dollar's recent rally has weighed on exports. Johannesburg's benchmark Top-40 index slipped 0.17 percent to 46,049. The wider All-share index ended 0.1 percent down at 52,229.