Australian shares are firmer as better than expected earnings from US companies boosts investor sentiment.

Ford, 3M and Microsoft were among the companies to post strong quarterly earnings reports overnight.

While those earnings results aren’t directly linked to Australian companies, they had made investors more confident, City Index senior market analyst Kara Ordway said.

“Risk appetite is very much on the table,” she said.

“Traders want to buy into high yielding stocks at the moment, they want to buy into risk and you can see that risk flowing through all the asset classes.”

The banks were leading the way on the local market, with ANZ up 28 cents at $32.65, Commonwealth Bank up 25 cents to $75.83, National Australia Bank up 18 cents at $35.77 and Westpac was 17 cents higher at $34.35.

“We’re going into ANZ and NAB’s results next week and if you look at past trading days leading up to the banks’ earnings results, they have historically moved higher,” Ms Ordway said.

In the resources sector, BHP Billiton had gained 17 cents to $37.52, Rio Tinto was up 22 cents at $64.07 and Fortescue Metals Group was 1.5 cents higher at $5.315.

Whitehaven Coal had added 7.5 cents to $1.81 after lifting coal sales by 26 per cent in the September quarter.

Shares in rail and stevedore operator Asciano were down 22 cents at $5.99 after it warned earnings growth would be weaker in the 2013/14 financial year.

Warrnambool Cheese and Butter shares had gained 26 cents to $8.41 after Canadian diary giant Saputo raised its takeover offer to $449 million, trumping two rival bids from local food companies.

KEY FACTS

* At 1220 AEDT on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 23.5 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 5,396.4 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 21.5 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,395.2 points.

* The December share price index futures contract was up 16 points at 5,386 points, with 10,207 contracts traded.

* National turnover was 1.0 billion securities worth $3.4 billion.