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The JSE board at Sandton, Johannesburg. Photo: Leon Nicholas

The JSE slipped during its opening session on Friday amid some consolidation following the previous day's strong rally.

The local exchange set a fresh record on Thursday, after breaking the previous 33,949.41 points on the all-share index reached on January 23.

“There has been risk taking on the global stage. Our market is already up 6% this year,” said Nick Kunze, head of dealing at BJM Private Client Services. “Given that it is still January, it's not surprising that the market is consolidating.”

At 9.20, the JSE all-share index was 0.37% lower at 33.937.94. The gold index dipped 0.04%, while resources shed 0.73% and platinum shares lost 0.52%.

Banks were flat (0.05%), as were financials (0.08%), and industrials edged down 0.19%.

Gold was trading at US$1,717.49 a troy ounce from US$1,727.84 at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at quoted at US$1,607/oz, from US$1,617.50/oz at the previous close.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that European stock markets were expected to open lower, as investors paused for breath following strong gains, but increasing uncertainty around reaching a Greek debt swap agreement continued to hamper sentiment.

“The end of the week looks somewhat less positive than recent days with a 'risk off' tone ensuing overnight,” said Credit Agricole. Growing confidence about the US economic outlook following the Federal Reserve's pledge to hold rates low for a longer period was tempered somewhat by a batch of downbeat US data Thursday, with an unexpected drop in sales of new homes for December.

Market participants also preferred to take a conservative approach amid continued talks between the Greek government and private-sector creditors. Greece and its private-sector creditors agreed to meet again Friday in a race to negotiate a EUR100 billion debt write-down for the country.

Most Asian stock markets eked out small gains on Friday, though caution over Greece's debt woes and some earnings disappointments pegged demand.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was flat, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.4%.

On the JSE, Anglo American (AGL) was down R3 to R334, BHP Billiton (BIL) lost R3.29 to R268.01 and Sasol (SOL) shed R2.24 to R397.51.

In gold stocks, AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) was down 68 cents to R356.01, Harmony (HAR) slipped 29 cents to R93.08.

Platinum miner Amplats (AMS) was down R3 to R556, but Aquarius Platinum (AQP) edged up 15 cents to R23.50.

In industrials, British American Tobacco (BTI) collected 99 cents to R363.99, while SAB (SAB) lost R1.35 to R298.20.

Nedbank (NED) lost 50 cents to R155.50, while Absa (ASA) rose 42 cents to R148.92. - I-Net Bridge