NEW YORK - WALL Street shares opened higher on Wednesday as investors scooped up beaten-down shares after several rocky sessions and awaited the kickoff of corporate earnings season.

In the first exchanges, the Dow Jones Industrial Average drifted up 8.69 points (0.11 per cent) to 8,172.29 after punishing losses on Tuesday for the main indexes.

The Nasdaq composite rose 7.39 points (0.42 per cent) to 1,753.56 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index added 2.06 points (0.23 per cent) to 883.09.

Al Goldman at Wells Fargo Advisors said he believes the economic and earnings jitters have been priced into the market, which has fallen over the past three weeks.

The second-quarter earnings season opens after the market close Wednesday with results from aluminum maker Alcoa.

'Fear about second-quarter earnings has likely been fully discounted and earnings probably won't be as bad as expected,' Mr Goldman said. 'The market has the preconditions in place for a several-day bounce.' -- AFP