By noon the S&P/ASX200 had gained 65.5 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 7895.7, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 67.7 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 8125.7.
The much-awaited Federal Open Market Committee surprised no-one by holding the funding rate steady and while the central bank's economic forecast noted greater uncertainty ahead, US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell tempered worries about tariff-driven inflation.
"It can be the case that it's appropriate sometimes to look through inflation if it's going to go away quickly without action by us, if it's transitory," he said.
"That can be the case in the case of tariff inflation."
Ten of 11 sectors on the local bourse were trading higher with only materials in the red. Miners BHP, Rio and Fortescue fell 0.7 per cent, 0.5 per cent and 2.0 per cent respectively as the iron ore price continued to soften.
The key steel ingredient has lost almost 1.8 per cent since last Friday, and with future trading at $US101.85 per tonne.
IT stocks took the lead from Wall Street and were up 1.8 per cent on Thursday, followed by financials which rebounded 1.4 per cent after a choppy week so far.
NAB was again the worst performer of the big four banks, gaining 0.9 per cent after a downgrade from Morgan Stanley. CBA, ANZ and Westpac were each up 1.4 per cent by lunchtime.
Real estate stocks were also up 1.4 per cent, with interest rate markets pricing in 16 basis points of RBA rate cuts for May, and a total of 59 basis points of cuts for 2025.
Bitcoin rose to its highest level in almost four weeks to trade at $US86,340 as risk-on investor sentiment returned.
Gold has hit a new all-time high of $US3,055, making a yet another run after the FOMC meeting, and is so far holding its gains.
The Australian dollar is buying 63.41 US cents, down slightly from 63.58 US cents on Wednesday afternoon and slipping slightly after the employment figures print.
The Aussie has been rangebound between 61.90 US cents and 64.00 US cents since early February.
