A higher open is projected Wednesday for Australia stocks. Traders saw Wall Street stocks move broadly higher overnight, despite more weak data on the US housing market.
Commodities prices were mixed, giv ing no strong direction to Australia's key resources sector.
On Tuesday, Australia's share market recovered from early losses to close with a gain.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index added 22.2 points or 0.5 percent to close at 4,755,8 and the broader All Ordinaries index was up 19.3 points or 0.04 percent at 4,834.2.
Trading volume was 2.8 billion shares valued at A$4.9 billion.
There were 497 stocks closing higher, 640 were lower and 378 were unchanged.
In the mining sector, BHP Billiton closed with a gain of A$0.25, Rio Tinto was up .45, Murchison Metals was down .04, Fortescue Metals was up .03 and OZ Minerals was unchanged.
For the major banks, Australia and NZ Banking Group closed up .07, Commonwealth Bank of Australia was up .10, National Australia Bank was up .21 and Westpac Bank was up .24.
Among the retailers, JB Hi-Fi jumped $1.37 or 7.4 percent after announcing a stock buy-back, Harvey Norman was up .03 and David Jones was up .02.
In U.S. trading on Tuesday, Wall Street moved broadly higher.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 81.13 points or 0.6 percent at 12,279.01, the Nasdaq Composite index was up 26.21 points or 0.96 percent at 2,756.89 and the S&P 500 index was up 9.25 points or 0.71 percent at 1,319.44.
The other major Asia/Pacific region markets were mixed on Tuesday.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 average closed down 19.45 points or 0.21 percent at 9,459.08,
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was down 7,83 points or 0.03 percent at 23,060.36.
The Shanghai Composite index in China was down 25.58 points or 0.86 percent at 2,958.43.
In India, the BSE 30/SENSEX index was up 177.86 points or 0.94 percent at 19,120.80.
The Jakarta Composite index in Indonesia was down 11.34 points or 0.31 percent at 3,591.51.
In South Korea, the KOSPI/Seoul Composite index was up 15.74 points or 0.77 percent at 2,072,13,
The Taiwan Weighted Index was up 43.51 points or 0.51 percent at 8,596.57.
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