Stocks were slightly higher at noon on Monday with MTN in the spotlight on fresh merger talks with another Indian firm, but overall the session was muted due to public holidays in the US and the UK.

At 11.59am, the all share index was up 0.30 percent, thanks to a 1.03 percent rise in resources. The platinum mining index was up 1.03 percent but the gold mining index was down 1.57 percent.

Banks lost 0.18 percent, financials up 0.13 percent and industrials fell 0.84 percent.

The rand was bid at 7.69 to the dollar from 7.64 when the JSE closed on Friday, while gold was quoted at $924.35 a troy ounce from $927.05 at the JSE's last close.

Traders said although the volumes were largely thin due to both the US and the UK players being on a public holiday, MTN kept the market alive after the local telecoms firm said it was in talks with another Indian firm.

Among equity movers, MTN Group was the blue chip's worst loser after the local telecoms group said "exploratory" talks with India Bharti Airtel had been terminated, and in a separate statement said it was in talks with India Reliance Communications "with regards to a potential business combination".

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