Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Australian stocks opened higher on Wednesday after Wall Street rallied on encouraging economic data and positive quarterly earnings from retail giant Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT). Metals and oil were all trading higher on Tuesday.

Most Asian stock markets rebounded Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve's pledge to keep interest rates near zero for "an extended period". But analysts expect this would be a temporary rebound. Yesterday, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.6 per cent, boosted by the upbeat earnings reports. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1.6%, South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.0 per cent and Taiwan's Taiex climbed 1.8 per cent.