Australian shares open stronger

The Australian stock market has opened higher shrugging off a mixed lead from offshore markets where Wall Street and oil prices ended firmer but precious and base metals prices weakened.

At 10.15am AEDT (12.15pm NZT), the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 10.8 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 4,830.8 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had risen 11.2 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 4,839.3 points.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index contract was 12 points higher at 4,831 points on volume of 5,083 contracts.

The major miners were mixed at 10.15am AEDT.

BHP was down nine cents at A$43.15, but Rio Tinto was up 47 cents, or 0.62 per cent, at A$75.82, and Fortescue Metals was two cents firmer at A$4.84.

The main indices on Wall Street finished higher, but faded late in the session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.03 per cent, the S&P500 closed up 0.45 per cent and the Nasdaq composite closed up 0.78 per cent.

Silver and copper prices were higher, but gold and oil eased.

Macquarie Private Wealth associate director Lucinda Chan said local market players had taken cues from the firmer oil price during offshore trading.

"The market very much took the lead of the strong boost in the oil price overnight," Ms Chan said.

"That really lifted the market."

Retail stocks were higher after department store chain Myer posted a 74.4 per cent fall in net profit for the first half of fiscal 2010, after the costs of floating the company, but 38 per cent higher before taking IPO costs into account.

At 10.25am AEDT, Myer had risen one cent to A$3.48, having touched an early high of A$3.54, while David Jones was up two cents at A$5.09.

Ms Chan said the Myer result highlighted improved market conditions and the willingness of consumers to spend.

"Sales were up from a year ago. That means consumers are still spending quite nicely," Ms Chan said.

"Their (Myer's) private labels also did reasonably well."

Among the other retailers, Woolworths was up five cents at A$28.25, and Wesfarmers, which owns Coles, was 29 cents firmer at A$32.52.

JB Hi-Fi was 10 cents stronger at A$19.83, while Harvey Norman was steady at A$3.92.

- AAP