"The market psychology is fairly cautious," said IG market...

"The market psychology is fairly cautious," said IG market strategist Stan Shamu. "It looks like investors have been getting out of growth stocks and back into the yield and defensive plays ahead of what might be a pretty uncertain few weeks for global markets."

After rising more than 9% since mid-November, the market was vulnerable to a pullback before the domestic earnings period next month, Mr. Shamu said.

Iluka surged after reporting a 31% fall in mineral sands production in 2012, providing some relief to investors who had feared a deeper fall.