The Australian sharemarket has bounced back strongly after three days of solid losses, despite mostly negative leads out of the US overnight.

US stocks ended lower on weaker-than-expected private sector jobs figures, ahead of the Department of Labor’s broader official unemployment data for January due on Friday.

The Australian market has fallen nearly 5.0 per cent in the past fortnight.

Lonsec senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said he thought the falls were overblown, along with the current sharp volatility in emerging markets.

“I am feeling good about the medium-term future,” he told AAP.

“What’s going on with emerging markets is a bit of a distraction to the main game … Frankly, what goes on in Argentina and Turkey has very little to do with what goes on in the American economy and market and Australian market and economy.”

The news that Australia’s trade surplus was $468 million in December, despite economists predicting a deficit of $1.2 billion has prompted a slight fall in stocks and the Australian dollar to jump to almost 90 US cents.

In December, exports rose four per cent, while imports were up two per cent.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, gaming group Tabcorp was flat at $3.38 after it lifted first-half profit to $74.6 million from $72.9 million.

Among the big banks, National Australia Bank had gained 33.5 cents to $32.475, ANZ had added 32 cents to $29.34, Commonwealth Bank had put on 61 cents to $73.10 while Westpac was up 32 cents at $30.63.

KEY FACTS

* At 1220 AEDT on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had gained 33.3 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 5,103.6 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index had added 33.8 points, or 0.66 per cent, at 5,122.5 points.

* The March share price index futures contract was up 33 points at 5,051 points, with 16,327 contracts traded.

* National turnover was 564.3 million securities worth $1.4 billion.