Investors enthusiastically continued December's Santa rally on Thursday, topping up their bank positions and offsetting some losses in healthcare names.
The local exchange largely ignored falling Wall St futures on Thursday afternoon to hit a new 2016 high and there was demand for bond proxies, such as consumer staples, telecommunications companies and listed property suggesting there may be returning demand for yield.
"People seem to like everything today," said James Gerrish, senior investment advisor at Shaw & Partners. "But the bond proxies which suffered the worst selloff during the Trump debacle are now enjoying some support."
The benchmark S&P;/ASX 200 Index and the broader All Ordinaries Index each rose 0.5 per cent to 5643.9 points and 5691.8 points, respectively.
Telecommunications businesses Vocus Communications and TPG received support after suffering at the hands of investors in recent weeks following earnings downgrades. The stocks closed up 3.5 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively, while Telstra managed to bump up 0.8 per cent.
While volumes were fairly thin, a slight dip in the iron ore price was enough to weigh on resource giants BHP BIlliton and Rio Tinto, which closed down 0.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively. That said, Fortescue managed to buck the trend and ended 1.5 per cent higher.
Healthcare stocks were the worst performing, led by Estia Health, which has had a particularly troubled end to the year. The stock slumped 5.3 per cent on Thursday despite no news from the company, suggesting investors may be sorting out their portfolios to begin the 2017 year afresh.
Woolworths enjoyed a 1.5 per cent spike, and main rival Wesfarmers, owner of Coles, closed 0.8 per cent higher.
The price of brent crude managed to lift itself back above $US53 a barrel, following the news that US crude stockpiles rose for the first time in five weeks. Australia's largest oil producer Woodside Petroleum bumped up 1.2 per cent.
In a quiet day for corporate news, Caltex said it will buy an independent New Zealand fuel importer and distributor, Gull New Zealand, for $NZ340 million ($324 million). Caltex shares fell 1.2 per cent.
Bega Cheese rallied 5.9 per cent after the company confirmed on Wednesday it remains on track to deliver on October's guidance. Shares in the dairy producer had slumped alongside rival Bellamy's which is currently in a trading halt, but Bega are looking to be clawing back those losses. A2 Milk has also been caught up in Bellamy's regulatory woes and the share price was off 2.9 per cent on Thursday.
Investors weren't finished crucifying Slater & Gordon after yesterday's announcement that ASIC would be investigating the firm for allegedly falsifying its account. The stock slumped 6.1 per cent on Thursday and have fallen 72 per cent so far this year.