SYDNEY, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Australian share market has opened firmly higher on Friday.

At 10:35am (AEDT), the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 27.60 points or 0.39 percent at 7,036.00, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 28.60 points or 0.40 percent at 7,137.20.

"Higher than expected U.S. GDP growth helped turn a European share rout into a U.S. rally overnight," CMC Markets' Chief Market Strategist Michael McCarthy told investors in a morning note.

"However a weaker inflation component to the national accounts spurred bonds higher. Industrial commodities fell further, and gold held higher ground, in clear signs of concern."

In the financial space, Australia's big banks strengthened with the Commonwealth Bank up (0.39 percent), Westpac Bank up (0.04 percent), National Australia Bank up (0.35 percent) and ANZ up (0.47 percent).

Mining stocks made gains with BHP up (1.13 percent), Rio Tinto up (0.48 percent) and Fortescue Metals up (1.68 percent), however gold miner Newcrest down (1.77 percent).

The country's oil and gas producers soared with Woodside Petroleum up (0.56 percent), Santos up (1.74 percent) and Oil Search up (0.83 percent).

Australia's largest supermarket chains also performed strongly with Coles Group up (0.98 percent) and Woolworths up (0.77 percent).

While telecommunications giant Telstra lifted (0.65 percent), the national carrier Qantas lost ground (0.46 percent) and biomedical firm CSL edged higher (0.10 percent). Enditem

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