JSE stays positive at noon

Johannesburg - The JSE maintained a positive tone in midday trade on Wednesday, tracking global markets.

At 12:01 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.76% to 34 232.35 points, with the resource counters rallying 1.46%, while gold index added 0.89% and platinum shares rose 0.21%.

Industrials lifted 0.41%, financials climbed 0.37%, and banks were flat (-0.04%).

The rand was trading at 7.54 to the US dollar, from 7.56 at the JSE's close on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at $1 744.32 a troy ounce from $1 723.82/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at US$1,646/oz, from US$1,621.02/oz before.

"The market is reasonably positive on hopes that the Greek policy makers are getting closer to agreement on fresh austerity measures," said Martin Strauss, equity dealer at PSG Konsult.

European stocks were cautiously higher on Wednesday as investors hoped that Greek lawmakers were close to a deal on the restructuring of Greece's debt, following reports that the European Central Bank is ready to make key concessions over its holdings of Greek bonds.

At noon local time, the FTSE 100 index was 0.30% higher at 5,908.18 points.

Asian stock markets climbed, helped by signs of progress over debt restructuring talks in Greece, while the Tokyo market tapped a three-month high with Toyota Motor surging after upgrading is fiscal year outlook.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average tacked on 1.1%, topping the 9,000 mark for the first time since October 31. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% while South Korea's Kospi Composite rose 1.1%. China's Shanghai Composite Index added 2.4% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.54%.