At 10.15am (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 17.3 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 3907.7, while the broader All Ordinaries increased 16 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 3878.2.
The four major banks were all higher in early trade.
ANZ rose 25 cents to $16.80, NAB was up 25 cents at $22.00 and Commonwealth Bank was 38 cents higher at $36.60.
Making news on Wednesday, Westpac reported a 1.2 per cent fall in first half net profit and says it is well placed to weather the challenging market conditions.
The bank by market value said net profit for the six months to March 31 was $2.175 billion, down from $2.202 billion the year before.
Westpac gained 2.56 per cent to $20.00.
Sydney ABN Amro Morgans senior equities adviser Geoff Voller said the US market had provided a no particular lead overnight.
"There was very little news in New York last night so there was little commentary over there,'' he said.
"They were a bit directionless and we were anticipating from the futures last night that they would be down more, so we are mildly up because it's a bit of a reaction to that.''
Mr Voller said Westpac results had been better than expected.
"Although the numbers were a bit less, I thought the quality of the result was good,'' he said.
"The market is trying to look for good news rather than bad news now.
"That has been the change over the last few weeks.''
The retailers were mixed at 10.42am AEST.
Supermarket giant Woolworths was up five cents at $26.30, while Coles owner Wesfarmers fell 29 cents to $22.98.
JB Hi-Fi was steady at $13.92 and Harvey Norman was down 13 cents at $3.20.
Upmarket department store David Jones says its third quarter sales fell 9.2 per cent and has reaffirmed its profit guidance for the second half and full year.
David Jones was up five cents, or 1.51 per cent, at $3.37.
Resources were in the red as the market began trading.
BHP Billiton was down 0.26 per cent at $34.39, and rival Rio Tinto fell 1.06 per cent to $70.23.
Wall Street dipped overnight in hesitant trade amid worries about capital shortfalls for US banks that underwent stress tests and cautious comments on the economy by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged lower by 16.09 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 8410.65. The tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 9.44 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 1754.12 and the Standard & Poor's 500 dropped 3.44 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 903.8.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index contract was trading 16 points higher at 3900 on volume of 5874 contracts.
