Johannesburg - The JSE extended its losses by midday on Tuesday amid a combination of a negative global sentiment and profit taking on the local bourse.

At 12:01 the JSE all share index declined 0.89%, with resources giving up 1.59%. Platinum miners weakened 0.54%, along with gold stocks, 0.51% lower. Banks shipped 1.55%, financials were down 0.90%, and industrials also dropped 0.15%.

The rand was bid at R7.40 to the dollar, from R7.37 seen at the JSE's close on Monday. Gold was quoted at $1 1120.99 a troy ounce from $1 126.93 at the JSE's last close. Platinum was at $1 588.50/oz from $1 594/oz at the JSE's last close.

"A combination of profit taking and negative global sentiment have driven stocks lower today," a local equities trader said.

He noted commodity stocks weighed on the local bourse with metal prices off their recent highs.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that European stocks were marginally lower on Tuesday in light trading; exactly one year on from hitting multi-year lows, although oil and gas stocks were tempering losses for the region's main indexes.

Meanwhile, investors will be keeping one eye on Europe's sovereign debt issues ahead of a key meeting between Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, the US President and the US Treasury Secretary.

Papandreou has said he is seeking support from the Obama administration to rein in the type of market speculation he blames for driving up Greece's borrowing costs.

Elsewhere, Portugal's government has launched its own budget cuts to shore up its public finances. The plan is to slash the budget shortfall to 2.8% of gross domestic product in 2013 from 9.3% of GDP last year. Lisbon's PSI-20 index was 0.9% lower at 7851.0.

Earlier, Asian stock markets were mixed, with many investors looking to China for cues, while others were taking a breather after recent stock market gains.

Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2%, and South Korea's Kospi Composite was flat. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.1% while, on the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5%.

Resources plays around the region lost ground after outperforming on Monday and after the price of gold slipped in Monday's session.

On Monday, US stocks closed slightly lower, led by healthcare stocks as President Barack Obama took health insurers to task in a speech. Still, the stock declines were limited as expectations for a Tuesday announcement from Cisco helped lift the technology and telecommunications sectors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.1% at 10,552.5.

- I-Net Bridge