After rising modestly in early trade on Friday, the local share market’s momentum quickly evaporated.

It has managed to recover just a fraction of Thursday’s steep losses totalling $52 billion.

The ASX 200, was trading 0.3 per cent higher at 5680 at 10.35am (AEDT), down from its 0.6 per cent rise in early trade.

About half the companies in Australia’s benchmark index were trading in negative territory.

The broader All Ordinaries index had risen slightly to 5780 points.

AMP shares jumped 10 per cent in early trade. But it did not take long for the initial excitement to subside towards a 4.2 per cent rise, to $2.60 per share.

It comes a day after the embattled wealth manager’s market value plunged 25 per cent to a new 15-year low.

Fortescue Metals (+3.4pc), Rio Tinto (+1pc) and BHP (+0.7pc) are the large miners behind the early trading gains.

On the flipside, Qantas (-1.6pc), Origin Energy (-1pc) and AGL (-1.3pc) are the big-name stocks posting some of the largest falls.

The major banks have made slight gains – Westpac (+0.2pc), ANZ (+0.2pc), NAB (+0.3pc), Commonwealth Bank (+0.5pc).

Health care (+1pc) was the best-performing sector, while the weakest was utilities (-1.5pc).

Many of the other sectors have posted muted gains including financials (+0.5pc) and resources (+0.4pc).

It was widely-expected that the local market would take its cue from Wall Street’s overnight rebound – driven by bargain hunters taking advantage of the sharp falls in recent days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 401 points – while solid quarterly earnings from major technology companies led to the Nasdaq clawing back 3.5 per cent.

The Australian dollar is steady at 70.8 US cents.

-ABC