Johannesburg - The JSE picked up at noon, trading in the black on the back of positive news in Europe.
A local trader pointed to news that the Spanish bond auction was going well and reasoned that this news was uplifting markets at present.
If the other data expected out today does not upset the momentum, a larger rally would be expected before the close.
At noon local time, the JSE All-share index had lifted 0.71%. Resources gained 1.24%, platinum shares lifted 0.96% and gold stocks improved 0.46%.
Banks took up 1.02%, financials elevated 0.77%, and industrials generated 0.25%.
The rand was bid at 8.05 to the dollar from 8.15 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold traded at $1 651.02 a troy ounce from $1 635.25 at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was quoted at $1 502.50/oz, from $1 481.50/oz at the previous close.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that European stocks started with mild gains overall on Thursday as investors awaited key rate and monetary policy announcements from the Bank of England and European Central Bank (ECB), while disappointing results from supermarket giant Tesco hit the retail sector as a whole.
Bank and insurance stocks were providing support here following comments from Fitch Ratings that it does not expect the French government to provide capital to banks.
Speaking at a conference in Paris, Fitch's David Riley also said France was not viewed by the credit rating company as a crisis country and the country would not be downgraded so long as its debt was not pushed up sharply.
At noon local time, the FTSE 100 was flat (0.05%) while Paris' CAC-40 had lifted 0.54%.
Investors are looking ahead to rate announcements from the Bank of England and ECB..
As well as the announcements from the central banks, investors will be keeping an eye on Spain which will auction €4bn to €5bn in July 2015-, April 2016- and October 2016-dated bonds. Citigroup said this will attract a fair amount of attention.
Jitters about Greece continued to simmer in the background. Greece might need to cut its debt by an additional €15bn even after it completes a deal with private creditors for a 50% haircut, people familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires on Wednesday.
However, at the same time Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said talks with private sector creditors on the country's debt writedown plan are "at a very good point".
Earlier on Thursday, Asian stock markets closed mostly lower as easing inflation in China failed to overcome worries over stresses in Europe's economy.
Japan's Nikkei 225 finished down 0.74% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.3%.