The Australian stock market has opened higher after economic data out of the US met investor expectations.
The market was up 0.4 per cent after opening on Thursday, despite a 0.14 per cent fall on Wall Street.
The US Federal Reserve announced overnight it would continue its bond buying program to support economic growth, but didn’t give a clear indication as to when the $85-billion-a-month scheme would end.
The central bank said 1.7 per cent economic growth in the quarter in the US – which was above expectations – showed the economy was recovering at a “modest” pace.
IG Markets analyst Chris Weston said the US central bank’s cautious statement meant it was business as usual on the local front.
“The Fed certainly didn’t do anything to really rock the boat,” he said.
“I think that’s certainly given a bit of reassurance.”
He said investors were unlikely to make any major trades ahead of the release of important Chinese manufacturing data later on Thursday.
The big four banks were mixed, with NAB down 18 cents at $31.05, ANZ down seven cents at $29.69 and Commonwealth Bank down 57 cents at $73.64.
But Westpac was up eight cents to $30.97.
The big miners were also mixed ahead of the Chinese figures.
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BHP was up 22 cents at $34.86, but Rio Tinto had lost 13 cents to $57.38.
Telstra stocks were up four cents at $5.03.
Toll road owner Transurban was 12 cents higher at $6.90 after it posted strong full year profit growth to $174.5 million.
