Wall Street has finished at one-week highs aided by a bump in oil prices which helped energy companies surge.

Australia’s markets liked the news on stronger commodity prices with the S&P/ASX 200 index up half a per cent to 5000 points building on Tuesday’s gains.

Global oil prices hit four-month highs, hovering just under $US45 a barrel after a report that top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to freeze output.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.9 per cent to 17,721.

The Nasdaq rose 0.8 per cent to 4,872, while the S&P 500 jumped 1 per cent to 2,062.

Energy shares jumped 2.8 per cent, with major oil players Exxon Mobil and Chevron among the biggest gainers on the S&P 500.

Exxon Mobil climbed 1.2 per cent, while Chevron jumped 2.4 per cent to near four-week highs of $US97.51.

The jump on Wall Street overshadowed caution on the upcoming earnings season in the US – where company results are expected to be limp.

Overnight, in London, the FTSE 100 added 0.7 per cent to 6,242, the German DAX gained 0.8 per cent to 9,761 and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.8 per cent to 4,346.

The Australian dollar was flat after soaring overnight to near two-week highs of 76.8 US cents.

It also rose against major currencies, and was buying 83.3 Japanese yen, 53.9 British pence, 67.5 euro cents and $NZ1.11.

On commodities markets, iron ore jumped overnight to $US55.90 a tonne.

Spot gold dipped slightly to $US1,255 an ounce.

West Texas crude jumped 4.5 per cent to sell at $US42.17 a barrel on hopes that oil producers will agree on steps to address a supply glut.