The JSE was rose on Monday morning, with global peers mostly firmer as investors look out for US Federal Reserve officials' comments this week.
Several Fed officials will give speeches this week and market participants will be watching out for any changes to the Fed's recent hawkish tone after last week’s softer jobs data.
US jobs data came in softer than expected, with the country adding 175,000 jobs in April, much lower than the expected 240,000. The unemployment rate increased to 3.9% in April, from 3.8% in March, while wages came in lower than expected.
Investors interpreted Friday’s jobs data as a sign that persistently high interest rates may be starting to take a toll on the world’s largest economy.
“Risk appetite improved after Friday’s softer-than-expected US payroll data breathed life into bets that the US Fed could still cut interest rates this year,” said Citadel Global director Bianca Botes.
At 10.30am, the JSE all share had gained 0.74% to 76,993 points and the top 40 was up 0.72%.
At the same time in Europe, the FTSE 100 added 0.51%, France's CAC 40 0.13% and Germany's DAX 0.18%.
Earlier in Asia, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.16% and Hong Kong’s hang seng 0.39%, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.1%.
At 10.22am, the rand had strengthened 0.2% to R18.4671/$, while it was little changed at R19.8895/€ and R23.2541/£. The euro was unchanged at $1.0768.
Gold gained 0.73% to $2,318.09/oz and platinum 0.68% to $972.50/oz. Brent crude was 0.85% firmer at $83.67 a barrel.
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