Although still in the red, the JSE recovered slightly and was flat, down 16 points, by noon on Friday with positive Dow futures providing some support amid profit taking in global markets.

At 12:03 the JSE all share index was flat, down 0.05 percent, with resources down 0.31 percent, platinum producers weakening 1.04 percent and gold miners falling 2.08 percent.

Banks were off 0.77 percent and financials eased 0.28 percent, but industrials edged up 0.37 percent.

The rand was bid at 7.43 to the dollar, from 7.44 when the JSE closed on Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1109.07 a troy ounce from $1114 at the JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1361.50 an ounce, from $1347.60 at its previous close.

"We are flat but have picked up from our earlier lows. Industrials, particularly MTN, are strong. Anglo American is trading at a twelve-month high and it's pulling the market higher," a trader said.

"Gold and platinum stocks are dragging the market down. Otherwise, it's very quiet.

"Dow futures are up slightly, but there is general profit taking in markets across the world," she said.

Dow Jones Newswire reported that the FTSE 100 traded in a narrow range as investors find comfort in higher Wall Street futures but are wary of putting more cash on the table ahead of eurozone 3Q GDP data at 10:00 GMT.

The index is struggling to crack the 5300 level and it is starting to look a little tired up there, said David Jones, strategist at IG Index.

"It does look vulnerable to a slide from current levels, but at the moment any weakness still looks to be a buying opportunity for the medium term," he added.

The FTSE 100 was last flat, down 0.01 percent.

US stocks are called to open higher on Friday, supported by a weaker dollar, said David Morrison at GFT.

He called the DJIA up 50 points and the S&P 500 up 5 points. Morrison expects the dollar to remain at the forefront of traders' thoughts, particularly as President Obama visits China this weekend.

"No doubt the president will be anxious to discuss global imbalances, the Chinese dollar peg and protectionism," he said. On the economic calendar, US trade balance and import prices at 13:30 GMT will be watched for direction, as will the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey at 14:55 GMT.

On the JSE, Anglo American plc put on 3.24 rand, or 1.05 percent, to 312.35 rand while BHP Billiton eased 23 cents to 223.26 rand.

Petrochemicals group Sasol gave up 1.94 rand to 289.61 rand.

Highveld Steel collected 70 cents, or 1.07 percent, to 66.20 rand.

AngloGold Ashanti lost 3.95 rand, or 1.20 percent, to 324 rand, Gold Fields weakened 3.49 rand, or 3.22 percent, to 105.01 rand and Harmony declined 1.71 rand, or 2.17 percent, to 77.26 rand.

Platinum miner Anglo Platinum shed 8.50 rand, or 1.25 percent, to 672.50 rand, Impala Platinum lost 1.78 rand, or 1.04 percent, to 169.72 rand and Lonmin was off 3.04 rand, or 1.51 percent, to 198.28 rand.

Impala Platinum earlier reported on Friday that higher production from the Zimbabwean operations, increased deliveries to Impala Refining Services and changes in the pipeline, as stocks were cleared during the strike action, resulted in a 6 percent increase in gross refined platinum production period on period to 413,000 ounces for the first quarter.

Palladium and rhodium rose by 22 percent and 20 percent respectively.

The group said however that at the Impala Lease Area tonnes milled declined by 26 percent to just under 3 million due to the closure of all mechanised sections following the 14 Shaft incident and the two-week strike during September.

In diversified miners Exxaro gave up 1.30 rand, or 1.42 percent, to 90.50 rand.

Among industrials on the JSE, brewer SABMiller edged up 35 cents to 206 rand, but Remgro was down 1.76 rand, or 1.92 percent, to 89.74 rand and Tiger Brands shed 3.28 rand, or 2.04 percent, to 157.12 rand.

Banker Standard Bank was down 70 cents to 96.40 rand and Nedbank declined 1.05 rand to 119.90 rand.

African Bank was down 76 cents, or 2.54 percent, to 29.15 rand. It earlier advised that headline earnings per share for the year ended September are expected to be 10 percent-12 percent lower than the 252.1 cents per share reported in the previous financial year.

This is as a result of the increase in the weighted number of shares in issue, the group said in a voluntary trading statement.

Headline earnings however are expected to be at a similar level to the R1.810 billion reported in 2008.

Retailer Pick n Pay weakened 62 cents, or 1.56 percent, to 39.21 rand and Lewis gave up 69 cents, or 1.35 percent, to 50.51 rand, but Clicks collected 53 cents, or 2.09 percent, to 25.93 rand.

Liberty International added 1.39 rand, or 2.34 percent, to 60.80 rand.

Construction group Murray & Roberts lost 1.15 rand, or 2.04 percent, to 55.10 rand.

Cement manufacturer Pretoria Portland Cement weakened 39 cents, or 1.18 percent, to 32.61 rand.

Among telecommunications groups, MTN Group firmed 1.75 rand, or 1.48 percent, to 119.75 rand, but Telkom was down 1.35 rand, or 3.20 percent, to 40.90 rand and Vodacom weakened 75 cents, or 1.34 percent, to 55.25 rand.

Telkom SA earlier said that it expects headline earnings per share (HEPS) to be 130 percent-140 percent lower for the six months ended September 30, while normalised HEPS are expected to be 45 percent-55 percent lower.

Telkom said its HEPS includes the secondary taxation on companies (STC) on the special dividend, the compensation expense and the fair value loss on Vodacom shares.