SYDNEY - The Australian share market opened positively this morning on the back of a night of strong trading on Wall Street.
At 1015 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 19 points to 5,833.1, while the all ordinaries index gained 18.7 points at 5815.5.
On the Sydney Futures
Exchange, the March share price index contract was trading up 36 points at 5,806 on a volume of 4,074 contracts.
ABN AMRO Morgans private client adviser Bill Bishop said the market had kept pace with previous days and was ready to end the week on a high note.
"I think it's just a case of more good news all around, and very much like yesterday," Mr Bishop said.
"Banks, resources and retailers are all firing and leading the pack on what is a very positive market."
Mr Bishop said the banking sector in particular was showing strong form in early trading.
"Macquarie Bank hit a new record high last night, but they've already exceeded that this morning and the other big banks are up comfortably as well."
At 1025 AEDT, Macquarie Bank already had added 28 cents since the opening of trade to $83.05, while National Australia Bank picked up seven cents to $40.85.
Among the other major banks, ANZ put on four cents to $29.54, Commonwealth Bank lifted four cents to $50.36 and Westpac was steady at $25.40.
US blue-chip stocks advanced overnight on optimism about strong profits from companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp, while the Nasdaq remained relatively flat.
Google reported a 67 per cent jump in gross revenue - beating a Wall Street consensus for growth of 64 per cent - but analysts said the results failed to live up to investor expectations, hurting the Nasdaq index.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 51.99 points at 12,673.68, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 7.7 points at 1,445.94.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 4.45 points at 2,468.38.
Stock Move Price AMP +0.020 10.470 ANZ Bank +0.120 29.620 BHPBilton +0.310 26.560 CBA +0.110 50.430 NAB +0.150 40.930 NewsCorp +0.010 31.510 Rio Tinto -0.590 77.700 TelstraCp +0.020 4.210 WestpacBk +0.040 25.440 Woolwrths +0.090 24.330
- AAP
