There were huge gains on US indices overnight Wednesday, with the Dow Jones index adding 4 per cent - it's biggest daily gain in almost four years.

Buyers looking for cheap stocks propelled the US market higher, coupled with signs the US Federal Reserve would delay further its first rate hike since June 2006. Economic data showing strong capital goods and durable goods orders also helped sentiment.

Local shares followed Wall Street higher for the whole session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index up 1.2 per cent, or 61 points, to 5233.3, and the broader All Ordinaries up 64 points to 5242.6.

"Wall Street was a massive factor," said Quay Equities head of trading Tristan K'Nell. "But you'd have to see a couple of days at least of good gains before you'd back an upward trend."

China's sharemarket closed up 5.3 per cent, but was up and down throughout the day, following a five-day, 23 per cent plunge that dragged valuations down to the lowest levels in eight months.

"This afternoon was trading on a little bit of stuff from China but not as much as it has over the last couple of days," said Mr K'Nell. "That bounce-back factor we saw was pretty much short coverings in my opinion."

Business investment intentions data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics came in slightly ahead of expectation, pushing the Australian dollar about one-third of a US cent to around US71.50¢, but the results did not flow through to the sharemarket.

All sectors recorded gains, while recovering oil prices buoyed the beleaguered energy sector. Woodside gained 1.7 per cent to $31.50.

All fo the banks finished stronger. ANZ was up 1.8 per cent to $28.57, Commonwealth Bank 0.4 per cent to $76.43, National Australia Bank 0.5 per cent to $31.56 and Westpac 1.2 per cent to $31.64.

The big miners were mixed, with BHP gaining 0.5 per cent to $24.06, while Rio Tinto dipped 0.2 per cent to $48.81 and Fortescue lost 0.8 per cent to $1.79.

Among other bluechips, Telstra put on 0.7 per cent to $5.90, while QBE jumped 3.3 per cent to $13.58 and Wesfarmers 2.2 per cent to $41.03.

As earnings season entered its final days, Boral slumped 8 per cent to $5.78 despite its US business returning to profitability for the first time since the financial crisis.

Nine Entertainment jumped 3.4 per cent to $1.50 after reporting profits fell slightly over the 2015 financial year, with chief executive David Gyngell stating the network's June quarter market share performance was "short of expectations".

Ramsay Health Care, the nation's biggest private hospital operator, climbed 5.5 per cent to $63.68 after its full-year net profit rose 27 per cent to $385.54 million from $303.76 million.

Underlying net profit climbed 19 per cent to $412.09 million from $346.15 million, buoyed by new acquisitions and expansions in existing hospitals.

A near halving in global dairy prices wiped 26 per cent of Bega Cheese's underlying net profit, but shares managed to eke out a 0.7 per cent gain to $4.50.

Flight Centre shares flew 11.5 per cent higher after it forecast strong earnings growth for the year ahead.

Earlier the group reported reported a 3.4 per cent fall in underlying profit before tax to $363.7 million, in line with its latest earnings guidance, but pleased the market by forecasting its earnings will grow 4 per cent to 8 per cent this financial year.