STOCK edged higher in opening trade today with gold and resources counters staging a recovery after being hit in yesterday's session.
In early trade, the JSE all share index had edged up 0.87%, with resources adding 1.73%, gold counters rising 1.91% and platinum miners firming 2.38%.
Banks weakened 0.38%, financials were flat, up 0.02%, and industrials collected 0.33%.
The rand was last bid at R8.13/$ from R8.22 when the JSE closed yesterday. Gold was quoted at US$927.80/oz a troy ounce from US$918.70/oz at the JSE's last close, and platinum was at US$1,170.50/oz, from US$1,158/oz at its previous close.
"We are up this morning, in fact we are black across the board," a Johannesburg-based trader said.
"Gold stocks were hit hard yesterday and they are staging a comeback his morning. Resources are also coming back and that is what is giving the market some support.
"The dollar has weakened and that has pushed commodity prices up. It will be interesting to see what will happen in the US tonight. That will give an indication as to where the market is heading.
"If we go below 875 on the S&P then that could trigger some selling in the market," he said.
Dow Jones Newswires reports that US stocks ended mixed yesterday as Boeing pulled down the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Boston Scientific climbed on a positive medical study and Starbucks got a boost from an analyst upgrade.
The Dow industrials fell 16.10 points, or 0.19%, to 8322.91. The S&P 500-stock index gained 2.06 points, or 0.23%, to 895.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1.27 points, or 0.07%, to 1,764.92.
The market traded in a tight range for much of the day, declining slightly early in the session after weaker-than-expected data on the housing market. Stocks on Monday fell sharply on renewed recession worries and some of that caution appeared to linger on.
"The housing number was not that inspiring," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W Baird. "Sentiment turned cautious after last week's hard smash and [Monday's] drop. Typically, after a pretty good decline the subsequent rallies are difficult to get started."
Asian share markets are mixed on Wednesday, failing to muster a decisive rebound from the previous day's sharp falls as traders await the outcome of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, looking for fresh cues on the health of the US economy.
Japan's Nikkei ended 0.4% higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng had last added 1.3%.
European shares are seen up slightly to start as investors waver back and forth over prospects for economic improvement.
