The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed 54.8 points or 1.13% higher on 4913.8, while the broader All Ordinaries jumped 55.5 points to 4995.7.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 186.79 points or 1.52% higher on 12,453.54, while the S&P 500 gained 17.74 points or 1.35% to reach 1330.36.

Asian stocks also rallied, lifting the regional benchmark index to a seven-week high, after Apple posted better than expected profits and energy shares gained.

“US company earnings are clearly helping,”Bloomberg quoted Singapore-based Schroders money manager Lee King Fuei as saying.

“In Asian economies where underlying fundamentals are stronger, inflation can potentially be a problem.

“Markets are a bit too complacent because there are still inflationary pressures.”

Of the big miners, BHP Billiton gained A9c to close on $47.32, while Rio Tinto jumped $1.07 to $84.19, Fortescue Metals Group was 24c higher on $6.49, OZ Minerals gained 3.5c to $1.495 and Paladin Energy shed 4c to close on $3.66.

Mineral explorer Astro Mining had one of the biggest share price runs of the day with its shares up 40% or 2c to 7c on no news.

Spot gold was up $US4.33 to $1506.725 an ounce at 4.24pm AEST.

Australia’s largest locally owned gold producer Newcrest Mining closed the day A73c stronger on $42.55, while Kingsgate jumped 16c to $7.81 and AngloGold Ashanti was unchanged on $9.30.

All commodities traded on the London Metal Exchange were higher.

Copper for three-month delivery increased by 2.57% to $US9580 a tonne, lead jumped 2.15% to $2612/t, zinc gained 1.16% to $2356/t, nickel was up 4.35% to $26,400/t, tin gained 0.77% to $32,650/t and aluminium gained 0.59% to $2730/t.

The Australian dollar was trading at record levels, fetching $US1.07 at 4.31pm.