Stocks pulled off their worst levels to end marginally in the red on Thursday, with the market buoyed by positive jobless figures in the US amid weaker gold stocks.

At 5pm the JSE all share index had shed 0.10 percent, with resources wavering 0.64 percent, gold miners slipping 3.64 percent and platinum producers down 1.37 percent.

Banks climbed 0.92 percent, with financials up 0.36 percent and industrials gaining 0.26 percent.

The rand was bid at 7.60 to the dollar from 7.67 when the JSE closed on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at $1090.15 a troy ounce from $1090.47 at the JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1354.50/oz, from $1364/oz at its previous close.

A local trader said: "The positive move on the JSE comes on the back of better-than-expected jobless data in the US, which also saw Dow futures higher. I think we also saw some buying interest as a result of oversold markets.

"Gold stocks have also come back locally, mainly due to a stronger rand," the trader said.

Dow Jones Newswire reported that US stocks opened higher on Thursday as filings for jobless benefits declined to its lowest level in 10 months last week.

Just after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 125 points, or 1.3 percent, to 9927. Gains were lead by Cisco, up 2.8 percent.

Also helping stocks, the Labour Department reported that the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits declined more than economists expected last week, while total claims lasting more than one week also decreased. Initial claims for jobless benefits, which decreased by 20 000 to 512 000 in the week ended 31 October hit their lowest level since January 3. The previous week's level was revised to 532 000.

In a separate report, US productivity grew during the third quarter to its highest level in six years, a sign that employers continue to fire workers to save money.

In the early going, traders largely viewed the two reports as positive ahead of Friday's heavily watched October non-farm payrolls report.

On the JSE, Anglo American plc added 61 cents to 294.11 rand, but BHP Billiton edged down 11 cents to 212.89 rand.

Petrochemicals group Sasol picked up 76 cents to 291.50 rand.

AngloGold Ashanti declined 13.95 rand, or 4.42 percent, to 301.31 rand, Gold Fields was 3.40 rand, or 3.16 percent, lighter to 104.10 rand and Harmony subsided 2.01 rand, or 2.45 percent, to 79.99 rand.

Platinum miner Anglo Platinum slipped 10.93 rand, or 1.60 percent, to 672.33 rand and Impala Platinum shed 2.40 rand, or 1.39 percent, to 170.60 rand, but Wesizwe added 18 cents, or 9.63 percent, to 2.05 rand.

Aquarius dropped 44 cents, or 1.26 percent, to 34.56 rand.

In diversified miners, Exxaro lost 1.55 rand, or 1.79 percent, to 85.15 rand.

Kumba Iron Ore advanced 2.75 rand, or 1.24 percent, to 225 rand.

ArcelorMittal rose 3.80 rand, or 3.80 percent, to 103.80 rand.

Elsewhere on the JSE, British American Tobacco grew 2.95 rand, or 1.21 percent, to 246.57 rand.

Cement manufacturer Pretoria Portland Cement weakened 50 cents, or 1.54 percent, to 32 rand

Electrics group Reunert gained 3.10 rand, or 6.26 percent, to 52.60 rand.

Communications group Vodacom pocketed 1.09 rand, or 2.11 percent, to 52.65 rand, while competitor MTN picked up 1.84 rand, or 1.61 percent, to 115.85 rand.

Among banks, Standard Bank added 1.54 rand, or 1.64 percent, to 95.25 rand and Nedbank profited 92 cents to 114.47 rand. The group advised earlier that diluted headline earnings per share and diluted earnings per share for 2009 are currently expected to be between 25 percent and 35 percent lower than the 1,401 cents per share and 1,558 cents per share respectively reported for the comparative period to December 2008.

In a trading update for the third quarter, the group said that the economic environment is likely to remain weak for the balance of the year.

RMB Holdings weakened 40 cents, or 1.46 percent, to 27.05 rand and Old Mutual fell 7 cents to 13.61 rand.

The international long-term savings group earlier reported what it called a good sales performance by its long-term savings division for the third quarter.

Sales showed a significant improvement on the first half of the year as the demand for equity-based investments returned, it said.

"Life sales were down 4 percent to £326-million compared to Q3 2008. Excluding the US business, where the sales decline was in line with our strategic plan, sales were broadly flat," the group said.

Old Mutual South Africa, including the rest of Africa, delivered third quarter life sales at a similar level to last year, an encouraging result given South Africa's late entry into recession, and strong growth in unit trust sales, up an impressive 53 percent due to strong money market inflows.

Unit trust as a whole in the group were up 47 percent to £1.7-billion.

Industrial brand management company Barloworld swelled 1.10 rand, or 2.26 percent, to 49.70 rand after it advised on Thursday that basic earnings per share and headline earnings per share (HEPS) from continuing operations are expected to be 40 percent to 50 percent lower than the prior year.

Operating profits for the year to 30 September are expected to be 20 percent to 30 percent lower than previously.

Tiger Brands was 50 cents firmer to 156 rand. The branded fast- moving consumer packaged goods company advised shareholders that in respect of the year ended September 30 2009, it expected that headline earnings per share (HEPS) from continuing operations would reflect an improvement of between 18 percent and 21 percent compared to that achieved in the previous financial year.

Whereas the trading environment for the second six months remained challenging, the operating results for the full year benefited from a particularly strong performance by the group's Grains businesses, it said.

Earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations for the twelve months ended September 30 2009 are expected to be between 43 percent and 46 percent above that achieved in the previous financial year.

Retailer JD Group fell 74 cents, or 1.83 percent, to 39.75 rand, Lewis dropped 1.06 rand, or 2.04 percent, to 5.89 rand and Foschini wavered 2.11 rand, or 3.60 percent, to 56.58 rand. The group reported that its diluted headline earnings per share for the six months to September 2009 were at 231.9 cents, up 1.8 percent from the 227.7 cents reported in 2008.

The directors declared an unchanged interim ordinary dividend of 118 cents per ordinary share.

Retail turnover at R4.1-billion rand was up 7.9 percent from the 3.8 billion reported before.

Massmart was 2.95 rand weaker, or 3.31 percent, to 86.05 rand, with Shoprite down 77 cents, or 1.26 percent, to 60.48 rand and Spar losing 1.85 rand, or 2.78 percent, to 64.60 rand.

Construction group Murray & Roberts lost 1.35 rand, or 2.41 percent, to 54.65 rand, and Group Five declined 70 cents, or 1.85 percent, to 37.20 rand.

Media group Avusa moved one rand lower, or 5 percent, to 19 rand, but Caxton Media pocketed 90 cents, or 6.67 percent, to 14.40 rand.