The Dow Jones was up 1.2 per cent overnight, enough to push the All Ordinaries up 0.6 per cent to 5844.0 and the ASX 200 up 0.7 per cent to 5872.3.

However, the release of the Reserve Bank's April minutes in mid-morning halted the steady rise in the bourse. Households' response to easy monetary policy was "unusually uncertain", said the bank, which said it saw an advantage in waiting for more economic data before deciding on further rate reductions.

"The bottom line on the April decision is that officials wanted more time to assess how the economy was tracking and responding to the February rate cut," JP Morgan economist Stephen Walters said.

"There still is anxiousness about the exuberance in Sydney's housing market, where home auction clearance rates are at record highs, and prices are rising at close to 3 per cent per month."

The minutes were a drag on market sentiment, Morgans private client adviser Alistair McCorquodale said.

"It's showing the continuing conundrum that the Reserve Bank have around the dollar and interest rates," he said. "But the banks have held up pretty well and after a little bit of softness over the last couple of days, we've bounced back."

Among the banks, Commonwealth Bank climbed 0.5 per cent to $91.78, ANZ lifted 0.3 per cent to $35.76, National Australia Bank gained 0.6 per cent to $38.58 and Westpac finished flat at $38.79.

Rio Tinto jumped 1.5 per cent to $55.50 despite revealing a surprise 12 per cent fall in iron ore exports, according to a set of March quarter results that were weaker than analysts had hoped.

Fellow mining giant BHP also had a good day, surging 2.6 per cent to $30.60.

Logistics giant Brambles fell 2.4 per cent to $11.04 after reaffirming its full-year profit guidance, despite slower-than-expected sales growth from its pallets business.

Brambles chief executive Tom Gorman says the company remains on track to record an underlying profit of between $1.37 billion and $1.40 billion for 2014-15, which is up 13 per cent on last year.

Leighton Holdings lifted 0.6 per cent to $20.28 after announcing it was on track to deliver net profit of up to $520 million in 2015 as it revealed plans to create a more "competitive" business.

Leighton, which is asking investors to vote on changing the company's name to "Cimic" at its annual general meeting, said it planned to introduce simplified business processes and outsource non-core functions such as IT and travel.

Copper miner OZ Minerals shares soared 6.1 per cent to $4.13 following Monday's strategy update, in which it revealed it would expand its horizons into base metals such as lead, tin, nickel and zinc.

Cochlear's shares were 1.3 per cent higher at $88.79 after the hearing implants maker said a US District Court has entered judgment in a patent infringement lawsuit against the company and its US subsidiary. Cochlear said the court previously overturned $175 million in damages awarded by the jury, ordering a new trial on damages for infringement of the remaining patent claim.

Medical technology provider Compumedics' shares were up 10 per cent to 22¢ after announcing a three-year distribution contract worth $2.2 million for supplying neurological monitoring systems in China.

Gold mining group Millennium Minerals shares rise lifted 11.5 per cent to 3¢ after reaffirming its full-year production outlook and saying it expects continued improvement in operating costs.

Atlas Iron, which is shutting its iron ore mines due to low prices, asked Australian securities regulators to keep trading in its shares halted for three more weeks as it awaits the outcome of a company-wide review.

Its shares closed at 12¢, showing a near-uninterrupted decline since mid-2011 from over $4.