At the market close the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 115.20 points or 2.30 percent at 5113.30, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 129.00 points or 2.58 percent at 51385.20.
"Markets here and abroad have been buoyed by the prospect of a US $2 trillion relief package to counter the slowdown in the U.S. economy due to the coronavirus pandemic," Commsec market analyst James Tao said.
"The bill has now passed the Senate and requires a vote by the House of Representatives."
All the 10 sectors strengthened further from Wednesday, led by information technology which rallied by 7.44 percent. Health care ranked second with 6.54 percent rise, followed by consumer discretionary, industrials and energy, all recorded over 3 percent gains.
In the financial space, Australia's big banks varied with the Commonwealth Bank down (0.96 percent), ANZ up (0.79 percent), National Australia Bank up (2.22 percent) and Westpac Bank up (1.07 percent).
Mining stocks were mostly higher with Rio Tinto up (5.14 percent), BHP down (2.01 percent) and Fortescue Metals up (2.94 percent), and goldminer Newcrest up (0.39 percent).
The country's oil and gas producers all lifted with Oil Search up (13.55 percent), Santos up (3.27 percent) and Woodside Petroleum up (3.87 percent).
Australia's largest supermarkets were mixed with Coles down (0.60 percent) and Woolworths up (0.85 percent).
Meanwhile, telecommunications giant Telstra remained unchanged (0 percent), the national carrier Qantas slumped (0.61 percent) and biomedical firm CSL surged (6.20 percent).
Latest comments