Australian shares have fallen after a positive start on Thursday, following a strong session on Wall Street as investors clung onto hope that a US recession could be avoided.

After gaining in early trade, the ASX 200 was down 0.4 per cent at 7,122, while the broader All Ordinaries was down half a per cent to 7,354.

Six of 11 sectors were in the green on the ASX 200 index. Information technology was the best-performing sector, gaining 1.4 per cent and rebounding from its recent decline. Real estate, banks and industrials were also going strong.  

The top performing stocks were tech companies Appen and Tyro Payments. 

Appen stocks surged 30 per cent after a takeover bid for the data company from Telus International. 

The Australian dollar gained 0.2 per cent, to 70.81 US cents.

NAB stocks rose 0.2 per cent. The bank is the latest player to enter the buy-now-pay-later space, launching its own product which will allow customers to split payments over four payments. 

Wall Street up after US rate rise outlook 

Meanwhile, in the US, minutes from the May 3-4 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) revealed members saw the need to raise rates faster than the market expected to dampen inflation.

The meeting resulted in a 50-basis-point rate hike, which was the biggest jump in 22 years.

The FOMC said further such rate hikes would "likely be appropriate" at its upcoming June and July meetings.

Overnight, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note stalled, around 2.75 per cent, while shares gained after the FOMC minutes were released. 

Investors are now less concerned about higher rates than the possibility of a recession, as US inflation sits at a 40-year high.

"The uniformity of opinion is a good thing," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird.

"There's a lack of uncertainty of what needs to be done in the near-term.

"By the time [the Fed] gets to September, they will have plenty of economic data to make their move from there," Mr Mayfield added.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.9 per cent, to 3,978, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.5 per cent, to 11,434. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6 per cent, to 32,120.

Nine of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 rose, with consumer discretionary stocks leading the pack with a gain of 2.8 per cent.

Amazon.com and Tesla rose 2.6 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively.

Department store operator Nordstrom surged 14 per cent on the heels of its upbeat annual profit and revenue forecasts.

Fast-food chain Wendy's Co jumped 9.8 per cent after a regulatory filing revealed that shareholder Nelson Peltz was considering a potential takeover bid for the company. 

Shares of Nvidia Corp fell more than 8 per cent in after-hours trading following the company's second quarter revenue forecast missed expectations. 

Spot gold was down 0.7 per cent, to $US1,85.20 an ounce.

On oil markets, Brent crude was up 0.6 per cent, to reach $US114.29 per barrel, while West Texas crude rose 0.8 per cent, to $US110.71 per barrel.

In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index added 0.6 per cent, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.6  per cent, and Britain's FTSE gained half  per cent.