The local share market has staged a dramatic afternoon rally to preserve its monthly winning streak  and hit an intraday record high.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday rose as high as 7,703.8 at 4pm AEDT, eclipsing its previous intraday high of 7,703.6 from February 2.

It finished just under that level, up 38.3 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 7,698.7, to finish at its highest ever close of 7,699.4, also set on February 2.

The index had been down by as much as 0.4 per cent during the first hour of trading on Thursday but gained ground all afternoon on dip buying and possibly as institutional traders readjusted their portfolios at months-end.

For February the ASX200 finished up 0.2 per cent, its fourth straight month of gains.

The All Ordinaries finished up 42.4 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 7959.5

The Australian dollar was buying 65.12 US cents, from 65.12 US cents at Wednesday’s ASX close.

This post was originally published on Michael West.