The S&P/ASX200 closed up 64.4 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 7854.1 on Monday, while the broader All Ordinaries lifted 68.8 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 8082.1.
The local bourse followed a rebound on Wall Street during Friday's session, after an eleventh-hour funding deal saved the US government from a partial shutdown.
Talk of China boosting domestic consumption with fresh stimulus measures has given local miners and energy stocks a lift.
Energy shares were buoyed by a rise in oil prices while BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue were up 1.4 per cent, 0.4 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively, despite iron ore futures slumping 1.1 per cent since Friday.
"We had obviously some forewarning on Friday that the Chinese were going to announce some stimulus to boost consumer sentiment and consumption," IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.
"At this point in time, we're still a little bit light-on in terms of details, but it shows the intent's there."
Other data from China showed some green shoots in the form of better than expected industrial production and retail sales figures, yet new home prices continued to slip as woes continue in China's embattled property sector.
"I look at that probably as being a very mixed bag, but at the margin, probably a little bit of a positive boost," Mr Sycamore said.
Eight of ASX's 11 sectors closed higher on Monday, led by a two per cent surge in materials stocks, while energy stocks and utilities stocks both rose 1.7 per cent.
IT stocks and telecommunication services stocks were each down 0.1 per cent, while the healthcare sector slipped 0.3 per cent.
Mineral Resources was the day's best performer, surging 11.3 per cent to $24.44 after UBS upgraded the stock to "Buy".
Oil and gas giant Woodside lifted 1.9 per cent after striking a 15-year LNG supply deal with China Resources.
Financials stocks also performed well with CBA, Westpac and ANZ all gaining one per cent or more, while NAB slipped 0.2 per cent after Westpac snapped up its chief financial officer Nathan Goonan.
Looking ahead, Australian employment figures are due on Thursday.
"There's obviously hopes that we'll get a rate cut sooner than later, but my guess is we get another firm jobs number there that keeps the RBA on hold until after the quarter for inflation figures, which come in about a month's time," Mr Sycamore said.
"And then maybe we get a May rate cut."
It's a big week for central bank meetings, with the US Federal Open Market Committee, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England setting funding rates this week, but no changes are expected.
The Australian dollar was buying 63.29 US cents, up from 62.95 US cents on Friday at 5pm.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 64.4 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 7854.1 on Monday
* The broader All Ordinaries was up 68.8 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 8082.1
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 63.29 US cents, from 62.95 US cents at the close on Friday
* 94.29 Japanese yen, from 93.52 Japanese yen.
* 58.18 euro cents, from 58.05 euro cents.
* 48.93 British pence, from 48.63 British pence.
* 109.93 NZ cents, from 110.23 NZ cents
13°C