At 10:30 (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 36 points or 0.60 percent at 6,072.40, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 38.80 points or 0.62 percent at 6,278.40.
Resources did most of the heavy lifting in early trade, following a global shift towards industrial commodities.
“Stronger than forecast demand for crude, petrol and other energy products reinforced the positive manufacturing environment illustrated by PMI reads over the last week,” CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said.
“Copper and iron ore rallied 2 percent to 3 percent and the exuberance saw SPX materials stocks lead share markets higher”
Meanwhile tech stocks also rallied, following similar moves overseas, while the banks posted more modest gains and healthcare jumped.
In the financial space, the big banks lifted with Commonwealth Bank up (0.16 percent), Westpac Bank up (1.15 percent), ANZ up (0.82 percent) and National Australia Bank up (0.43 percent).
Mining stocks were mostly higher with BHP up (1.90 percent), Rio Tinto up (1.11 percent) and Fortescue Metals up (0.54 percent), however goldminer Newcrest was down (0.16 percent).
The country’s oil and gas producers varied with Oil Search up (0.18 percent) and Santos up (0.10 percent), however Woodside Petroleum was down (0.38 percent).
Australia’s largest supermarkets sank with Coles down (0.17 percent), and Woolworths down (0.05 percent).
Meanwhile telecommunications giant Telstra dropped (0.53 percent), the national carrier Qantas sank (0.12 percent) and biomedical firm CSL jumped (0.88 percent).
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