Australian shares are higher, despite a weak lead from Wall Street.

The local market’s one-third of a per cent gain reflects normal market conditions rather than any specific data catalyst, Wealth Within chief analyst Dale Gillham says.

“It’s just easing off at the moment,” he said.

“We’ve had a bit of a weakening off over the last few days. It’s pretty normal market conditions.”

The big banks were all stronger, with ANZ up four cents to $31.03, National Australia Bank 33 cents higher at $34.96, Commonwealth Bank gaining 16 cents to $73.06 and Westpac adding 18 cents to $32.92.

The big miners were also firmer, with BHP Billiton adding 17 cents to $36.04 while Rio Tinto added five cents to $62.15.

Gold miner Newcrest added eight cents to $11.99 and Fortescue Metals gained 18.5 cents, or 3.9 per cent, to $4.905.

The Australian share market opened higher despite Wall Street’s lacklustre performance with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.43 per cent and the broad-based S&P 500 dropping 0.26 per cent.

In other news, agricultural chemicals and seeds supplier Nufarm announced that challenging seasonal conditions had affected its full year net profit, but it still rose by 11.6 per cent to $81 million for fiscal 2013.

The company’s shares were down five cents at $4.83.

Australian Securities Exchange shares rose by eight cents to $34.86 after it said its full year net profit had risen 2.7 per cent to $348.2 million.

Meanwhile, retailer David Jones said its full year profit had fallen six per cent amid weaker sales and pressure to cut prices.

Its shares were up 13.5 cents, or 4.74 per cent at $2.99, at 1051 AEST.

KEY FACTS

* At 1015 AEST on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 17.3 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 5,251.5.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 17.6 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 5,247.1.

* The December share price index futures contract was 12 points higher at 5,254 with 4,695 contracts traded.

* National turnover was 154.2 million securities worth $245.1 million.