Sydney - Australian shares soared Wednesday at the opening bell in the wake of a big rise on Wall Street.

The ASX200 put on 163 points, or 3.5 per cent, to reach 4,762 in the first 30 minutes of trading.

Analysts predicted continued turbulence - the index lost 4.2 per cent Tuesday - until a financial bailout package passes the US Congress.

An indication of the uncertainty - and the effect of the market turbulence on the real economy - was the postponement of plans to build a new terminal at Canberra airport.

"No one knows if this US rescue package, if it gets through, if it will work," Canberra Airport managing director Stephen Byron said when announcing the delay in starting a project worth 250 million Australian dollars (200 million US dollars).

"We think now is not the time to be starting a project when you don't know if the world financial markets are going to let you finish that project," Byron said. "We're not bigger than the world financial markets, no one is, no one knows how this storm will play out." (dpa)