The index has crossed the psychological mark of 6,000 points several times since November and has been on an upward path since December 15.

Melbourne-based IG market analyst Chris Weston said he believed there was a good chance of seeing a repeat of January 2017, where the S&P 500 continued on its bullish trend, with inspiring global growth still a dominant theme, back by earnings growth and central bank forward guidance.

In Canada, the S&P/TSX Composite Index closed slightly higher but the Venture Exchange's Composite Index had closed lower.

The gold price was slightly higher than this time yesterday at US$1,263.30 an ounce on the spot market.

Gold miner St Barbara (AU:SBM) was one of the larger capitalised Australian stocks moving higher today, gaining 4.8% as it notified the market Van Eck Associates had slightly increased its holding in the company.

Diversified majors closed a little lower: BHP (AU:BHP) lost 0.1%, Rio Tinto (LN:RIO) had closed down 0.75% and Freeport-McMoRan (US:FCX) eased 0.12% but all remain close to one-year highs.