South African stocks aligned themselves in the black on Friday morning, tracking positive sentiment in Asia and following good performances on a micro and macro front in the US.

At 9.15am the JSE all share index had gained 0.34 percent, with resources picking up 0.52 percent. Platinum producers edged up 0.46 percent and gold counters garnered 0.46 percent.

Banks added 0.47 percent, financials were 0.30 percent higher and industrials were up 0.28 percent

The rand was bid at 7.73 to the dollar from 7.76 when the JSE closed on Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1047.43 a troy ounce from $1040.45 at the JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1331 an ounce, from $1334 at its previous close.

A local trader said: "We saw some good numbers from the US, particularly the GDP which confirmed markets' assumptions of green shoots.

"Both macro and micro, that is company and economic data in the US have seen some positive results and it appears that international markets are concentrating on the positive stuff."

Dow Jones Newswire reports European stocks are set to open higher on Friday, with stellar performances on US and Asian markets lending support, following better-than-expected US 3Q GDP figures.

Ben Potter at IG Markets calls the FTSE 100 up 26 points at 5164. Still, whether the pace of the rally can be sustained remains to be seen, says Potter. "GfK consumer sentiment data overnight for the UK showed a better than expected reading so attention will now turn to ... German retail sales data (at 07:00 GMT). Also, euro zone CPI and unemployment data releases are both due at 10:00 GMT.