The Australian stock market has opened stronger as local investor confidence offset negative leads from global markets.
CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said the move higher at the open was unexpected given the tone on global markets during the past 24 hours.
Wall Street finished lower overnight, with the Dow Jones down 44 points to 16,425.
Paris’ CAC 40 was also down while Germany’s DAX 30 and London’s FTSE 100 were both relatively flat.
“It is surprising, I would have thought we would have opened lower but the market has shown itself to be quite resilient,” he said.
“Clearly investor confidence in the market remains.”
The big four banks were higher with Westpac 24 cents higher at at $32.36, ANZ up 15 cents at $32.14, Commonwealth Bank adding 32 cents to $77.92 and National Australia Bank lifting 16 cents to $34.71.
But the major miners were lower with BHP Billiton down 21 cents to $37.35, while Rio Tinto lost $1.04 to $66.71 and Fortescue Metals 4.5 cents lower at $5.66.
KEY FACTS
* At 1025 AEDT on Tuesday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had gained 17 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 5,341.9.
* The broader All Ordinaries index had lifted 15.8 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,343.5.
* The March share price index futures contract was eight points higher at 5,312, with 5,955 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 310 million securities worth $284 million.
