The Australian share market has risen in morning trade, following a strong lead by Wall Street overnight.

The All Ordinaries index had gained 37 points or 0.6 per cent to 5,617 around 11:50am (AEST), while the ASX 200 index was also up 37 points at 5,624.

The mining sector was making a significant contribution to the gains.

Rio Tinto had risen 1.4 per cent, while BHP Billiton was up 1.2 per cent ahead of its results due out just after the Australian market closes late this afternoon.

Gold miner Newcrest had gained 0.5 per cent.

A 1.7 per cent fall for the Commonwealth Bank was a major drag on the finance sector, although entirely due to the company trading without its latest dividend from today onwards.

That offset gains by its rivals: of 1.2 per cent for Westpac; 0.7 per cent for ANZ; and 0.1 per cent for NAB.

The Bank of Queensland had jumped 2.6 per cent and AMP 1.8 per cent.

Insurance Australia Group had risen 0.4 per cent after the firm announced a stellar full-year profit result.

Telstra had edged 0.3 per cent higher.

Virgin Australia had jumped 2 per cent, but was still short of a 3.1 per cent surge for Qantas.

There were some mixed performances among the retailers: Harvey Norman had risen 1.6 per cent, but JB Hi-Fi was down 2.6 per cent; Myer had fallen 0.8 per cent; amid the supermarkets, Woolworths had risen 0.8 per cent and Coles’s parent company Wesfarmers 0.6 per cent.

The Australian dollar was buying 93.34 US cents.