The S&P 500 index in New York surged 1.4 per cent overnight as investors made peace with the possibility that the US Federal Reserve might soon raise interest rates following robust US home sales numbers, which were interpreted as showing the economy is strong enough to withstand tighter monetary policy.

Locally, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 added 1.4 per cent to 5372.5 while the broader All Ordinaries lifted 1.4 per cent to 5436.8.

"The market is having a fairly positive day on the back of strong US data, which saw a decent rally on Wall Street," said Tony Paterno, senior private client advisor at Ord Minnett. "Gains across the index have been fairly broad-based with most sectors showing strength."

In the main corporate news of the day, Wesfarmers edged down 0.2 per cent to $41.90 after warning that its full-year profit will be hit by writedowns and restructuring costs of up to $2.3 billion on its ailing Target chain and its struggling coal business.

The conglomerate said it would take a non-cash impairment of up to $1.3 billion on its Target business, mainly on the value of goodwill. It will also take $145 million of "restructuring costs and provisions" associated with the retail chain.

"Wesfarmers has been hit pretty hard on some write-downs and some restructuring costs around Target. The stock initially slipped but has been slowly recovering in our strong market," Mr Paterno said.

Consumer stocks 

Tim Nicol, client adviser at Atlantic Pacific Securities, said that Wesfarmers' write-down came despite Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing strong consumer sales.

"This gives evidence to the fact shoppers are looking elsewhere," he said.

"Woolworths is likely to benefit from an out-of-favour Wesfarmers, as fund managers need to maintain a certain level of exposure to Consumer Staples names," said Mr Nichol. "This along with a turnaround story in Woolworths should see some upside in the near term."

Woolworths rose 1.3 per cent to $22.28.

Among the blue-chip miners, BHP Billiton lifted 2.8 per cent to $18.90 while Rio Tinto put on 1.9 per cent to $45.03.

The big four banks lifted: ANZ Banking Group 2 per cent to $25.28; Commonwealth Bank 1.1 per cent to $78.39; National Australia Bank 1.9 per cent to $27.48; Westpac Banking Corporation 2.2 per cent to $30.44. Telstra gained 1.8 per cent to $5.69.

The continuing slide in the gold price over May - it's gone from $US1303.60 per ounce to $US1228.55 per ounce - whacked gold producers again overnight. Newcrest Mining crashed 5.1 per cent to $19.02 while Evolution Mining slipped 1.4 per cent to $2.09.

Primary Health Care a target

Flight Centre shares rebounded 2.9 per cent to $32.80 following an upgrade by Credit Suisse to "outperform" from "neutral" as a result of the savage share price reaction to Flight Centre's earnings downgrade on Monday.

Credit Suisse cut its price target to $38.61 from $41.44 despite raising its recommendation.

Primary Health Care gained 2.2 per cent to $3.74 after reports that China's Jangho Group is mulling a full takeover offer. 

Jangho, already a shareholder in the company, has been slowly lifting its stake since it first emerged with an 11 per cent stake back in March. It currently owning 16.9 per cent in the pathology and diagnostic provider - close to the investor threshold of 19.9 per cent.

Jangho is the Chinese construction company that is making a push into the Australian health sector, starting with the acquisition of ASX-listed Vision Eye Institute last year.

Programmed Maintenance Services jumped 10.2 per cent to $1.61 after the company reaffirmed its guidance, despite swinging to an annual net loss due to lower demand for marine services following the steep drop in oil and gas prices.

The company - which provides staffing, maintenance and facility management services - reported a net loss of $98 million for the year ended March 31, from a net profit of $25.7 million a year earlier.

Revenue jumped 54.6 per cent to $2.22 billion, thanks largely to its acquisition of Skilled Group in October, and it will pay a final dividend of 5 cents.

It stuck with its guidance for the coming financial year, signalling a pre-tax range of between $100 million and $110 million.

Construction materials supplier Adelaide Brighton shot up 4.2 per cent to $5.65 after announcing it expects improved sales in several of its key products, due largely to demand from east coast markets.

Chief executive Martin Brydon told the company's annual general meeting that the company expects 2016 sales volumes of cement and clinker to be similar or slightly less than in 2015.

Cement and clinker markets in South Australia and NSW were stronger, Victoria and southeast Queensland were stable and Western Australia and the Northern Territory were weaker, he said.