At 11:00 (AEST), the benchmark ASX 200 index was up 30.00 points or 0.44 percent at 6,820.60, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 27.90 points or 0.40 percent at 7,050.50.
U.S. share markets lifted on Thursday after U.S. unemployment benefit claims dropped to a one-year low and President Joe Biden announced 200 million COVID-19 vaccines would be administered by the end of April.
The Dow Jones index rose 0.60 percent, the S&P 500 index lifted 0.50 percent and the Nasdaq index gained 0.10 percent.
On the local bourse all sectors were trading higher with the exception of health care, which was down 0.51 percent.
In the financial space, the big banks were mixed with Commonwealth Bank down (0.16 percent), National Australia Bank up (0.42 percent), Westpac Bank up (0.60 percent) and ANZ up (0.82 percent).
Mining stocks were mostly higher with BHP up (0.17 percent), Rio Tinto up (1.47 percent), and Fortescue Metals up (1.65 percent). However, gold miner Newcrest was down (0.08 percent).
The country's oil and gas producers surged with Oil Search up (1.45 percent), Santos up (0.85 percent) and Woodside Petroleum up (1.44 percent).
Australia's largest supermarkets rallied with Coles up (1.13 percent) and Woolworths up (0.64 percent).
Meanwhile, telecommunications giant Telstra surged (2.55 percent), the national carrier Qantas gained altitude (0.98 percent) and biomedical firm CSL sank (0.73 percent).
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