Australian shares opened marginally higher on Thursday after lower-than-expected inflation data and strong quarterly earnings from the United States lifted Wall Street overnight.
By 10:20 am AEST (12:20 am GMT), the ASX 200 index was trading 0.1% higher.
Investor sentiment was supported by a second consecutive U.S. inflation report showing price pressures easing and another strong set of second-quarter earnings numbers from American financial firms.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.3% on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).
The latest Producer Price Index (PPI) figures followed Tuesday's softer Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, reinforcing expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve may be able to leave interest rates unchanged or potentially cut them later this year.
"My fear going into this week was, we could get a hot CPI print, inflation above 3.8%, and we didn't get it; we got a cooler reading of 3.5%," Founders 100 ETF chief investment officer Lauren Cassidy was quoted saying in this Reuters story.
The U.S. earnings season also continued to deliver positive surprises with BlackRock and Morgan Stanley stock rising after they beat market expectations.
"Everything looks great with the bank earnings," Horizon Investments head of portfolio management Mike Dickson was quoted saying in by Reuters.
"I would not be at all surprised to see another bang-out quarter."
Australian shares had finished higher on Wednesday with the ASX 200 Index gaining 0.37% to 8,841.1 points as six of the 11 sectors ended up.
In fixed interest markets, the Australian Government bond yield curve tilted up a little as two-year rates dropped 0.09% to 4.518% while 10-year rates were flat at 4.890% at the time of writing.
