"It's been a continuation of the risk-on that we've seen dominate markets as political resolutions have eased concerns about the impact of Brexit, and locally, with the federal election result," CMC chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said.
However, Mr McCarthy said the benchmark index of top 200 stocks was hitting very heavy resistance around the 5,400-point level.
"The next couple of days will be crucial for the direction of the market.A push through the 2016 high at 5,425 (points) would be very significant," he said.
Mr McCarthy said local investors would be looking for leads from global economic data - especially from China, the US and Japan - and the pending US corporate earnings season.
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He said trading volumes were low on Wednesday, suggesting that investors were cautious ahead of those events.
On the local bourse, among the major banks, the Commonwealth Bank gained 39 cents to $74.89, ANZ rose 30 cents to $24.50, Westpac added 14 cents to $29.52, and National Australia Bank lifted 23 cents to $25.34.
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton jumped 65 cents to $20.58 , Rio Tinto climbed $1.38 to $50.78 , and Fortescue Metals surged 23 cents, or 5.52 per cent, to $4.40.
Goldminer Newcrest was up two cents at $26.20.
Key facts
* At 1627 AEST on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 35.3 points, or 0.66 per cent, at 5,388.5 points. * The broader All Ordinaries index was up 37.1 points, or 0. 68 per cent, at 5,470.3 points.
* The September share price index futures contract was up 34 points at 5,347 points, with 24,955 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 3.3 billion securities traded, worth $5.6 billion.
