AUSTRALIAN shares opened marginally higher following positive overnight sentiment on Wall Street.
At 10.15am (AEST) the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 1.9 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 4619.4, while the broader All Ordinaries index had risen 2.2 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 4667.1.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was six points higher at 4642 on a volume of 7367 contracts.
In the US overnight, shares received a brief bump following word that the Federal Reserve was ready to do more to help the economy, but ended mostly lower on Tuesday after the central bank disappointed some investors by not taking any bold new actions.
The Fed said it was concerned that inflation is below levels consistent with a healthy economy and indicated that it was ready to provide "additional accommodation" to support the recovery.
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Shares had been trading lower ahead of the Fed's announcement and rallied briefly after the news came out.
The Dow rose 7.41 points, or 0.1 per cent, to close at 10,761.03. It's still up 7.5 per cent for September, an unusually large gain for a month that is historically weak for stocks.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 2.93 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 1139.78, while the Nasdaq composite fell 6.48, also 0.3 per cent, to 2349.35.
At 10.18am (AEST), ANZ was trading in negative territory at $23.78 - down two cents.
Westpac added eight cents to $23.40, CBA was 15 cents stronger at $52.77 and NAB rose five cents to $25.81.
IG Markets research analyst Ben Potter said he was pleasantly surprised at the positive start to the day's trading.
"It's a bit stronger than we were expecting," Mr Potter said.
"US Futures and our SPI Futures were pointing towards about a 0.2 per cent fall in the opening price.
"It's probably on the back of people thinking that yesterday's fall was a little bit overdone, given the fact that US leads were up."
Both major miners were down at 10.36am (AEST), with BHP Billiton shedding 19 cents, or 0.49 per cent, to $38.53 and rival Rio Tinto 59 cents weaker, or 0.78 per cent lower, at $74.64.
Making news, David Jones announced it had increased full-year profit by 9.1 per cent as the department store owner said it was on track to deliver earnings growth in the current year of 5 to 10 per cent.
Net profit rose to $170.8 million for the 53 weeks ending July 31, from $156.5 million in the prior corresponding period, Sydney-based David Jones said in a statement on Wednesday.
At 10.37am (AEST), David Jones stocks were six cents lower, or 1.15 per cent, at $5.14.
In the energy sector, Woodside Petroleum had risen 28 cents, or 0.64 per cent, to $44.03, Origin Energy was 22 cents dearer, or 1.39 per cent higher, at $16.06 and gas specialist Santos lost 11 cents, or 0.86 per cent, to $12.74.
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