The share market has opened higher as investors strike to take advantage of recent falls.
The strongest early gains came in the healthcare and industrial sectors, with miners and the big banks relatively subdued.
Investors had been waiting for the release of the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting, but they provided little news overnight.
The document only confirmed market expectations of an interest rate rise later in 2015, rather than in June.
IG market strategist Evan Lucas said the local market was in a precarious position, with major stocks at relatively high prices, but investors were so far capitalising on recent falls.
“The fact the ASX has given up 6.4 per cent in value since its intra-day high in mid-April makes the current position a little more attractive for buyers than it was six weeks ago,” he said.
The rest of the session is likely to be influenced by the release of Chinese manufacturing data around midday, he said.
In the health sector, CSL was up $1.77 at $91.45 and Cochlear had gained $4.59 to $88.96.
James Hardie was one of the best performers, adding $1.435, or 9.4 per cent, to $16.655 after a strong rise in annual profit plus the payment of a special dividend and announcement of another share buyback.
BHP Billiton rose 32 cents at $29.14, while its spinoff South32 added two cents to $2.38, Rio Tinto gained 78 cents to $56.81 and Fortescue Metals lifted two cents to $2.09.
Among the banks, Commonwealth Bank jumped 50 cents to $82.99, ANZ rose 18 cents at $32.07, Westpac was 6.5 cents higher at $32.325, while National Australia Bank was down 15 cents at $33.41.
KEY FACTS
* At 1045 AEST on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 42.1 points, or 0.75 per cent, at 5,652.4 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 41.2 points, or 0.72 per cent, at 5,654.5 points.
* The June share price index futures contract was 56 points higher at 5,662 points, with 10,196 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 687 million securities worth $1.7 billion.
