Optimism out of the United States has boosted the Australian sharemarket, leading to its strongest day of trading since mid-April.

The benchmark ASX 200 rallied 112.10 points or 1.30 per cent to 8796.60 while the broader All Ordinaries jumped 112.80 points or 1.27 per cent to 9016.10.

Australia’s dollar also climbed to a four year high, buying 72.47 US cents.

Despite the market’s strong gains, just five of the 11 sectors finished in the green, led by the major banks and miners.

Commonwealth Bank shares leapt 2.96 per cent to $177.98, Westpac rallied 3.48 per cent to $38.94, National Australia Bank appreciated 2.77 per cent to $40.03 and ANZ climbed 3.12 per cent to $37.07.

Capital.com says global markets reacted positively to US President Donald Trump’s announcement he was pausing “project freedom” – which is a naval blockage of the critical Strait of Hormuz.

“The closure of the Strait remains a problem with energy supply stifled, fuelling the risk the global economy falls off a rather steep and nasty supply cliff,” Mr Rodda said.

“However, hopes spring eternal that such an outcome will be avoided – and most importantly, will not erode the extraordinary profitability underpinning Wall Street’s latest all-time highs.”

Trump’s comments sent oil prices down by 2 per cent back to $US107 ($A148) a barrel.

Australia’s major miners reacted positively to falling oil prices, while the energy sector stalled.

BHP shares ascended 3.05 per cent to $56.39, Rio Tinto jumped 2.30 per cent to $174.60 and Fortescue climbed 3.15 per cent to $20.65.

Shares in Woodside slumped 2.66 per cent to $31.84, Santos slid 0.25 per cent to $7.89 and Ampol closed 1.24 per cent lower to $35.02.

Commonwealth Bank head of commodities and sustainability Vivek Dhar says gold prices lifted to above $US4600 ($A6353) thanks to easing geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran.

“Gold futures have largely tracked inversely to the direction of tensions in the Middle East since prices reached a peak of $US5,422/oz in intra‑day trading on 2 March – shortly after the war began on 28 February,” he said.

“This may sound counterintuitive due to safe‑haven demand being considered a strong driver of gold futures.”

“But safe‑haven demand, which typically tries to capture any meaningful rise in market risk, has historically had a poor correlation with gold prices.”

Consumer electronics giant JB Hi Fi shares slumped 6.28 per cent to $72.98 after it flagged significant component related costs increases and stock availability shortages. JB Hi Fi says comparative sales grew by 4 per cent, while subsidiary The Good Guys sales were up 2.5 per cent over the March quarter.

Judo Bank’s shares firmed 3.55 per cent to $1.46 after it told the market it was on track to meet existing guidance of profits before tax of between $180-$190m.

Shares in Infratil rallied 14.95 per cent to $12.07 after it told the market that its 49.8 per cent owned data centre operator CDC secured Australia’s largest ever data centre contract with a 555MW deal.