At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 52.1 points, or 1.44 per cent higher at 3671.6, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 50 points, or 1.4 per cent to 3617.5.
"We got some reasonably positive corporate results for a change out of the US last night, so the market started on a good foot,'' CMC Markets analyst David Taylor told AAP.
"The (Australian) employment numbers weren't very impressive at all, so we saw a bit of weakness there.
"Leading into the weekend Easter break the mood seems to be very positive, some of the banks are doing quite well, the miners are doing well and so are the energy stocks.''
BHP Billiton gained 67 cents to $32.45, while rival Rio Tinto put on 99 cents to $53.80.
Australia's unemployment rate was a seasonally adjusted 5.7 per cent in March compared with an unrevised 5.2 per cent in February, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The number of people employed full time dropped by a seasonally adjusted 34,700 in March.
The local market opened more than one per cent higher after gains on Wall Street overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average picking up 47.55 points, or 0.61 per cent, to close at 7837.11.
The banking sector was mixed, with ANZ adding 32 cents to $16.62, Commonwealth Bank putting on 73 cents to $35.60, NAB losing 19 cents to $21.85 and Westpac dipping one cent to $20.00.
Investment bank Macquarie gained $1.14, or 4.11 per cent, to close at $28.89.
Bank of Queensland shed 45 cents, or 5.17 per cent, to $8.25 after the company reported a slump in bottom line first half net profit to $46.3 million and slashed 25 per cent from its interim dividend.
Toll road operator Transurban Group put on one cent to $4.27 after the company said aggregate toll revenue from its assets in Australia rose by 7.3 per cent to $243.9 million in the March quarter.
Leighton Holdings dropped 29 cents to $20.78 and announced a raft of management changes, including the transfer of its Indonesian operations to the control of Leighton Asia.
The retailers were mixed, with Woolworths gaining 20 cents to $25.60, Wesfarmers putting on 15 cents to $19.00, David Jones adding 13 cents to $2.99 and Harvey Norman dipping five cents to $2.65.
The media sector was mixed, with News Corp (the parent of the publisher of news.com.au)picking up three cents to $11.55, its non-voting shares losing 10 cents to $10.04, Fairfax finding two cents to $1.08 and Consolidated Media Holdings dropping one cent to $2.02.
At 16:15 AEST on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index contract was 56 points higher at 3682, on a volume of 18,524 contracts.
Share market gains ground
