THE JSE closed flat on Tuesday (0.05%), with resources leading the advances and gold miners taking the hits.

"It was a pretty flat day today, but market sentiment was positive. Good US job numbers helped reduce the need for a third round of quantitative easing a bit," said Gerhard Lampen, head of Sanlam iTrade.

"Quantitative easing is not going to do too much for the economy ... the aim is to keep asset prices high," he added. "When the US Federal Reserve is talking about monetary easing, share prices rise, so talking about it is doing the job without them actually implementing any stimulus. If the Dow Jones index stays above 13,000 points, the Fed will not be worried enough to do anything — it will only act if equity markets fall."

Traders worldwide are also awaiting more detail from the European Central Bank (ECB) on its latest plan to address the region’s debt crisis amid improved global risk sentiment, which has pushed global markets higher.

At 5pm local time, the JSE closed up 0.05% at 35‚487.26 points, with the resources index adding 1.13% and the gold index shedding 1.45%.

Among the big movers, Anglo American gained R7.33, or 2.98%, to R253.33 and BHP Billiton added R3.24, or 1.31%, to R250.04. Lonmin lifted R3.89, or 4.15%, to R97.63 and Aquarius added 21 cents, or 4.59%, to R4.79.

Harmony shed R1.71, or 2.09%, to R80.03 and Gold Fields gave up R2.01, or 1.82%, to R108.49.

Coal of Africa was up 16 cents or 4.58%, to R3.65 after the company announced it had raised $44m through an equity placement to fund the ramp-up of its Vele Colliery in Limpopo.

Palabora Mining Company closed R9.30, or 9.66%, lower at R87. The company reported a 55.9% drop in headline earnings per share for the six months ended June to 697 cents.