Prices were higher as the Australian share market opened on the first trading day of the new calendar year.
The S&P/ASX 200 was up 20.5 points or 0.25%, at 8,179.60 at 10.50am (11.50pm GMT).
At 9.50am ASX futures trading had indicated the index would begin lower with the March share price index pointing to an 0.9% fall.
But by 10.50am ASX March futures had turned to show an 0.2% increase after US stock futures rose by between 0.2% and 0.4% in Wednesday evening (Thursday AEDT) trade.
In New York on Tuesday, the last trading day of the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had edged 0.07% lower, the S&P 500 lost 0.43% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.90% as high bond yields took their toll.
However this masked a record year on Wall Street as the equities market hit new highs with the Nasdaq surging 29%, the S&P 500 23% and the Dow Jones 13% across 2024, easily outstripping the 7.5% rise of the Australian benchmark.
On the bond markets, at 9:50 am AEDT, 10-year Australian Government yields fell 0.26% to 4.548% while two-year yields were 0.18% lower at 3.883%.
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