SHARES of Billiton Plc, listed in Johannesburg, lost almost 6% just before the weekend, extending its fall as traders locked in profits after recent gains and mulled its Canadian deal. Traders said much of Billiton’s fall was a result of sector- switching and profit-taking following good gains on the bourse’s resources index. ”Billiton is down on sector-wide profit-taking. But I firmly believe that the game on the resources stocks is not over yet,” Robert Rik, an equities dealer at stockbroking firm Incentive Holdings said. Rik said Billiton was a resilient share which is likely to bounce back as it is among the key rand hedge stocks on the market, but other analysts said concerns that Billiton may be paying too much for Canadian-based miner Rio Algom Ltd could also be having an impact on the share price. ”There may be an initial knee-jerk reaction with the purchase price being seen as too much. But the deal is strategic move into copper,” Alan Cooke, an analyst at Rice Rinaldi Turner and Co. said. – Reuters