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At 17:00 local time, the JSE all-share index was up 0.74% to 34,226.73 points, with the resource counters rallying 1.10%, while gold index added 1.37% and platinum shares rose 0.54%.

Industrials lifted 0.52%, financials climbed 0.59%, and banks gained 0.46%.

The rand was trading at 7.55 to the dollar from 7.56 at the JSE's close on Tuesday. Gold changed hands at US$1,745.89 a troy ounce from US$1,723.82/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was quoted at US$1,659.51/oz, from US$1,621.02/oz before.

"The markets fared fairly well on the day. Concrete developments calmed the markets. Renewed appetite for commodities helped lift the resources sector," said Devin Shutte, market watcher at stockbrokerage, Newstrading.

US stocks opened flat on Wednesday as investors awaited the resolution of Greek political negotiations over a debt-restructuring deal that would allow the troubled European nation to avoid a default, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

Pulling on the upside were consumer-discretionary and materials stocks, though bank stocks were also strong.

Faring worse were stocks in less economically-sensitive sectors, like utilities and health care.

European markets also gained ground amid those same hopes that Greece was close to reaching a debt-restructuring deal.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the European Central Bank is ready to make key concessions regarding its Greek bond holdings by exchanging its holdings with the European Financial Stability Facility at a discounted price. This would help reduce Greece's debt burden, which would smooth the path for the country to receive bailout funds and avoid default.

Asian bourses were broadly higher, with China's Shanghai Composite leading the way with a 2.4% gain after China's central bank said it would help support first-time home buyers. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.1%.

On the JSE, Anglo American (AGL) rallied R8.35 or 2.46% to R347.90, Sasol (SOL) edged up 90 cents to R399.95, BHP Billiton (BIL) added R1.41 to R260.41. The global resources giant earlier reported basic earnings per share of 186.8 cents for the six months ended December 2011, from 189.2 cents a year ago. Excluding exceptional items, Earnings per share were down 2.9%. Revenue was 9.7% higher at US$37.48 billion, while profit from operations was 8.1% higher at $15.69 billion. A dividend of 55 cents was declared, up 19.6% from 46 cents a year ago.

In gold stocks, AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) gained R5 or 1.46% to R347, Gold Fields (GFI) picked up R1.26 or 1% to R126.66 and Harmony Gold Mining (HAR) gained R1.90 or 2.01% to R96.60.

Anglo American Platinum (AMS) gained R2.90 to R556.65 and Lonmin (LON) added R1.15 to R128.25.

Among other miners, ArcelorMittal SA (ACL) added 81 cents or 1.22% to R67.11, Kumba Iron Ore (KIO) gained R9.27 or 1.70% to R553.27.

In industrials, SAB (SAB) was up R3.04 or 1.02% to R301, while Bidvest (BVT) lifted 40 cents to R172.40.

MTN Group (MTN) lifted R1.01 to R133.01, while Vodacom (VOD) was off 43 cents to R100.97. The mobile phone operator saw a record increase in its customers of five million in the third quarter, pushing the number of subscribers past the 50 million mark.

Group customers rose by 27.3% to 52.9m in the quarter. Overall group revenue rose by 12.2% to R17.997 billion while SA achieved a 25% increase in customers, ending the quarter at 32 million customers. Group service revenue rose 11.2% in the period under review to R15.567 billion