The Australian bourse showed modest increases by early afternoon as investors took in cautious comments from the central bank.

The mining sector led the upward movement, with heavyweights BHP Billiton climbing 23c up at $37.98, and Rio Tinto gaining 93c at $65.96.

At 4371.0, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 12.7 points or 0.29 per cent higher. The broader All Ordinaries added 12.7 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 4385.4.

Bell Potter Securities senior adviser Stuart Smith said the Australian market had enjoyed positive trading following the Wall Street lead, but he was not sure how it might end the day.

"The message from the Reserve Bank is that they're cautious, and so is everybody else, I can tell you that," Mr Smith said.

"Their (the RBA's) concerns are local and global. The concern here is inflation, and what's going to be the result of the (stress tests on the) European banks."

Some investors were taking their lead from the RBA, according to Mr Smith.

"That's not a bad lead,'' he said. "Apart from that, there's nothing much going on."

The minutes of the July 6 monetary policy meeting of the RBA released today, show that inflation figures due on July 28 are crucial to the interest rate outlook.

The minutes also confirm that the RBA maintained the cash rate at 4.5 per cent on July 6 because the world economy was growing at around trend pace, even with a significant retarding of some economies and concerns over the European financial crisis.