Wall Street closed higher overnight, breaking a five-day losing streak, after campaigning for next week’s crucial referendum in Britain was suspended following the shooting death of a British MP.

Jo Cox, a strong supporter of Britain remaining in the European Union, was shot and killed on a street in northern England.

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The International Monetary Fund also postponed a major briefing on the UK economy, “out of respect”, following Ms Cox’s murder.

The prospect of Britain voting to leave the EU has unsettled markets around the world over the last week, with investors uncertain about what the move could mean for global growth.

Australian shares opened up 0.6 per cent with the ASX 200 index trading at 5177.3 points.

By the close in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 per cent to 17,733.

The S&P 500 Index added 0.3 per cent to 2,077 and the Nasdaq finished 0.2 per cent higher at 4,844.

There was no such rally across European markets and in London, the FTSE 100 Index closed 0.3 per cent lower at 5,950.

In Paris, the CAC 40 dipped 0.5 per cent to 4,153, while in Frankfurt, the DAX lost 0.6 per cent to 9,550.

At the same time, the Australian dollar was worth 73.64 US cents, having been sold off overnight.

On the cross-rates, it was buying 65.6, euro cents, 51.8 British pence, 76.8 Japanese yen and $NZ1.04.

West Texas crude oil had fallen to $US46.09 a barrel, Tapis had eased to $US47.65 and spot gold had edged down to $US1,280.36 an ounce.