Johannesburg - The JSE was soft at its opening on Tuesday amid profit taking, following a good run over the past few days.

World sentiment also pointed towards the negative, with Wall Street having closed lower and Asia a fraction down.

At 09:22 the JSE all share index declined 0.24%, with resources giving up 0.28%. Platinum miners were flat, down 0.03%, along with gold stocks 0.08% lower.

Banks shipped 0.26%, financials were flat, down 0.06%, and industrials dropped 0.26%.

The rand was bid at R7.41 to the dollar, from R7.37 seen at the JSE's close on Monday. Gold was quoted at $1 1122.78 a troy ounce from $1 126.93 at the JSE's last close. Platinum was at $1 590/oz from $1 594/oz at the JSE's last close.

A local equities trader said: "World market sentiment has turned slightly negative, and the local bourse has seen a few strong days, so I think we should see a bit of profit taken off the table."

- I-Net Bridge