Johannesburg - The JSE was mildly positive at the start of trading on Tuesday, with industrials leading the upside, after the previous session selloff particularly in the resources and banking sectors.
At 09:17 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.27% to 33,795.18 points, with resources inching up 0.10%, but platinum shares dipping 0.25% and gold counters edging up 0.11%.
Financials were flat (0.03%), as were banking stocks (0.06%), while industrials lifted 0.49%.
The rand was trading at R7.83 to the US dollar, from R7.85 at the JSE's close on Monday. Gold was quoted at $1 636.08 a troy ounce from $1 631.99/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 556.20/oz, from $1 557.50/oz at the previous session.
"It is kind of strange that we are barely positive given the selloff we saw on Monday. Ordinarily, you would expect a big bounce fuelled by bargain hunting," said Viv Govender, market watcher at Vunani Private Clients Services.
He said investors would look to market-moving economic data releases in the US, which include US consumer confidence index later in the day.
In Asia, stock markets were largely lower on Tuesday as poor economic data in the eurozone hurt cyclical stocks, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The recent string of weak global data, including Monday's downbeat manufacturing data from China, France, Germany and the eurozone prompted investors to sell equities.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.21% but Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.78%.
European stocks opened higher following heavy losses in the previous session, although sentiment remained fragile and gains will likely be capped by political tensions in the region and worries about global growth.
Investors are worried that the Netherlands could lose its triple-A credit rating as Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte resigned after budget talks fell apart over the weekend.
At the same time, French opposition candidate Francois Hollande's slight lead over Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round of the presidential election rattled some investors, as Hollande is widely considered to be less committed to fiscal austerity.
London's FTSE 100 index was up 0.37% to 5,686.72 points.