The S&P/ASX200 jumped 94.3 points by midday, up 1.06 per cent, to 9,102.3, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 90.4 points, or 0.98 per cent, to 9,329.1.
The top-200 came within five points of its intraday record of 9,115.2 reached on October 21, 2025.
The surge followed a positive Wall Street session overnight, thanks to some encouraging economic figures ahead of US inflation data later in the week.
The Australian co-heavyweight sectors of financials and raw materials led nine of 11 local sectors higher, with strong performances from large cap banks and miners, and a broad uptick in gold stocks.
"Gold and silver continue to move by virtue of their own technicals as the dislocation in those markets persists," Capital.com market analyst Kyle Rodda said.
"But crude - and to an extent gold - is seeing a bid on very real risks that the US could launch a strike on Iran and it could devolve into a major conflict."
Energy stocks surged 2.6 per cent as crude prices spiked on rising tensions between the US and Iran, and as peace talks between Russia and Ukraine ended without a breakthrough.
Uranium stocks pushed higher, while coal producers were broadly positive, except Whitehaven, which dipped more than five per cent after its first-half earnings dropped by more than 50 per cent on the equivalent half.
Gold prices held relatively steady to trade hands at $US4,963 ($A7,033) an ounce.
Communications stocks soared 3.2 per cent, tracking with a rally in Telstra shares as the telco upped the size of its share buyback and foreshadowed an improvement in full-year earnings.
In other earnings news, buy-now pay-later player Zip Co tanked by more than 36 per cent after bad debts and weaker margins overshadowed record earnings in the six months to December and a guidance upgrade.
Shares in Bunnings and Kmart owner Wesfarmers fell 4.6 per cent despite recording higher revenues and earnings in the first half.
Medibank Private lost more than six per cent after its half-year profit fell more than 10 per cent to $302.9 million.
Sonic Healthcare jumped 10.6 per cent after reporting strong revenue growth and confirming full-year guidance.
The Australian dollar was buying 70.50 US cents, down from 70.69 US cents on Wednesday at 5pm.
It had spiked briefly after January unemployment came in lower than expected at 4.1 per cent, feeding into expectations of another rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
"With the unemployment rate remaining at 4.1 per cent (below the Reserve Bank's 4.3 per cent forecast for June) it's unlikely to alter expectations of a follow-up RBA rate hike in the coming months," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
31°C