After opening in the black on Friday morning, the JSE turned around and was in the red by midday as resources gave up their earlier gains.

US markets are closed for the Independence Day holiday.

At noon, the all share index was down 0.49 percent, with resources 0.76 percent weaker. Platinum miners were 0.67 percent lower, while gold miners were 0.71 percent softer. Industrials were off 0.21 percent and financials were down 0.22 percent. Banks, however, bucked the trend and were 0.51 percent better.

The rand was bid at 7.70 to the dollar from 7.74 when the JSE closed on Thursday, while gold was quoted at $932.23 a troy ounce from $932.85 at the JSE's last close.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that UK stocks were lower, weighed down by financials and retailers. The FTSE100 was last down 35 points.

"There is not a lot of activity today, with the US markets closed. We opened well and it looked like we might have a bounce, but we have stumbled," said a local equities trader.

He said the main reason for the retreat was weaker resources. "Also the rand is fairly strong – and we didn't expect that and it is the main reason for the fall in resources," he added.

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