The share market is higher despite a weak start to trade, due to expectations the Reserve Bank will soon cut interest rates.

CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said the turnaround from early falls was surprising given a weak session on Wall Street overnight.

“I think it basically reflects central bank activity,” Mr Spooner said.

Central banks around the world seem to be responding to lower inflation by either adopting a neutral stance on interest rates or cutting rates, he said.

A newspaper article by an influential columnist stating the RBA will cut the cash rate next Tuesday had heightened expectations of a rate cut, Mr Spooner said.

Among the banks, Commonwealth Bank was up 60 cents at $88.30, National Australia Bank had added 22 cents to $35.42, ANZ had climbed 22 cents to $32.86 while Westpac was one cent lower at $34.67.

In the resources sector, BHP Billiton was down four cents at $28.90, Rio Tinto had dropped one cent to $56.97, while Fortescue Metals had surged 10.5 cents to $2.145 after cutting its production costs in the December quarter and flagging further reductions in the months ahead, in response to lower iron ore prices.

Energy giant Oil Search was down 18 cents at $7.61 after it announced plans to cut costs following the recent slide in oil prices, and flagged up to $US200 million ($A252.37 million) in asset writedowns.

Beach Energy had dropped 3.5 cents to 89.5 cents after it outlined plans to cut capital expenditure by 20 per cent.

KEY FACTS

* At 1205 AEDT on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 13.4 points, or 0.24 per cent, at 5,566.2 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 12.1 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 5,528.7 points.

* The March share price index futures contract was two points higher at 5,514 points, with 16,511 contracts traded.

* National turnover was 547 million securities worth $1.54 billion.