Equities have a much stronger feel ahead of the start of Australian trading in the aftermath of a surge in stocks on Wall Street overnight.
The best indicator of how the market will trade from 10 am AEDT (11 pm GMT) is in the futures market where the S&P/ASX 200 March share price index contract was 104 points or 1.26% at 8,202 points at 9:45 am AEDT.
The bullish tone was set in New York where the three major indices rocketed higher in response to news that core inflation had dropped more than forecast and as the big banks unveiled strong earnings results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.7%, the S&P 500 climbed 1.8% and the Nasdaq Composite led gains surged 2.5%.
U.S. core inflation, which excludes volatile elements, rose by 3.2% year-over-year versus the 3.3% expected, while JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Citigroup handed down impressive fourth quarter results.
The S&P/ASX 200 had closed 0.22% lower on Wednesday at 8,213.30.
On fixed interest markets, Australian Government bonds yields were moving in different directions with 10 year paper up 0.09% at 4.529% and two-year paper down at 0.13% at 3.936%.