The JSE-all share index closed slightly higher on Wednesday with banks and gold miners leading the upside and only resources in the red.

"We saw some renewed buying interest into the banking sector after a huge sell-off, and we saw the gold price rise considerably. A softer European session was seen, but they came off their the initial lows in the afternoon," a local trader said.

"It was not a bad trading day, with average volumes seen - we managed to keep onto the gains," he added.

The JSE all-share index closed 0.23 percent higher at 36,445.75 points, with banks closed jumping 1.81 percent and gold miners gaining 1.39 percent.

Meanwhile US stocks were little changed early on Tuesday after an upbeat reading from the housing market was countered by a dreary earnings outlook from package-delivery services company FedEx, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

At 16.52pm local time the Dow Jones Industrial was flat after having suffering its first loss in five sessions on Monday. It closed last week at a nearly a five-year high.

Market watchers looked to FedEx and rival United Parcel Service to offer clues about the pace of economic activity, as they transport goods around the globe.

Among local stocks that showed movement were BHP Billiton (BIL) down 1.07 percent at R267.25 and Sasol (SOL) shed 2.01 percent at R390.00.

In the platinum sector, Lonmin (LON) dipped 0.53 percent to R86.51 and Aquarius Platinum (AQP) shed 4.11 percent to R6.76.

AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) lifted 1.43 percent to R297.91 and Gold Fields (GFI) added 1.44 percent to R106.00.

In banks and financials, Absa (ASA) jumped 2.03 percent to R136.00, FirstRand (FSR) surged 3.41 percent to R26.37 and RMB Holdings (RMH) lifted 1.71 percent to R35.60.