The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was up 40.2 points at 4,244.5 after Slovakia's political parties agreed to hold a new vote this week on an expansion of the eurozone emergency fund, after lawmakers initially rejected the plan.

Slovakia is the last of the 17 eurozone members to ratify the deal.

The commodities-linked Australian dollar rallied on the news out of Europe, moving decisively above parity with the greenback.

It was also boosted by an unexpected drop in Australia's unemployment rate to 5.2 percent, reducing the likelihood of an interest rate cut.

The Aussie was trading at 102.00 US cents late in the session, more than two cents up on its 99.42 cents close locally on Wednesday.