The Australian share market closed stronger thanks to higher mining stocks.

At close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index climbed 24.4 points or 0.54 per cent to reach 4566.5 points. The broader All Ordinaries index, meanwhile, had jumped 25.2 points or 0.55 per cent to 4584.9 points.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the September share price index contract edged up 27 points to hit 4546 points, with 19,547 contracts traded.

According to IG Markets markets analyst Cameron Peacock, the Australian market began on the front foot after a positive performance on Wall Street overnight (AEST), propelled by indications of growth in US employment and the service industry.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.41 per cent, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 0.61 per cent.

"It is pretty much as expected, given the fairly positive leads from the US overnight," Mr Peacock said.

"We got that from a pretty encouraging ADP (US) jobs report and we had a better than expected services report."

She said the local market traded between 0.5 per cent and 0.7 per cent stronger on Thursday from Wednesday's close, with the resources sector leading.

Global miner BHP Billiton ended 16 cents or 0.39 per cent higher at $40.84. Its rival Rio Tinto finished 17 cents or 0.23 per cent up at 73.01 ahead of the release of its first half results.

After the closing, Rio Tinto posted underlying first half earnings of $5.8 billion. This is 125 per cent higher than data on the same period the previous year.