By 10.15am (AEDT), the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 8.8 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 3523.1.
The broader All Ordinaries index added 7.1 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 3465.6.
In the resources sector, mining giant Rio Tinto lost $1.52 or 2.92 per cent to $50.48.
The resources giant came out of a trading halt after the market closed yesterday, and said on Friday it was "very confident'' it will win federal government backing for a $19.5 billion deal with major shareholder Chinalco.
Rival miner BHP Billiton sank 38 cents to $32.09.
"There was an amazing turnaround in America overnight and anything like that would have a positive influence on our market,'' Austock Securities senior client adviser and strategist Michael Heffernan said.
"The only decline is in the materials sector with both Rio and BHP down, but with Rio's announcement it's probably not a bad result.''
Mr Heffernan said he expected Rio's share price to rise in the next couple of months.
In company news today, Australia's biggest gold company, Newcrest Mining, lifted first half profit and said it was in a strong position in a weak economy.
Newcrest climbed 36 cents to $34.36, rivals Lihir Gold added 3 cents to $3.44 and Newmont rose 2 cents to $6.42.
At 10.39am (AEDT) the spot price of gold in Sydney was $US943.70 an ounce, up $US4.55 on Thursday's local close of $US939.15.
Financial services provider AMP expects its annual underlying profit for 2008 to be around $800 million, compared to $882 million in the 2007 financial year.
AMP shares were 6 cents higher to $5.16.
Among the major banks, the NAB rose 16 cents to $18.76, Commonwealth Bank fell 8 cents to $30.87, Westpac found 9 cents at $16.74, and the ANZ rose 44 cents to $12.33.
On Wall Street overnight, US stocks staged a stunning comeback on reports the US government plans to subsidise mortgage payments for troubled homeowners.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen nearly 250 points in earlier trading, but closed down just 6.77 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 7932.76.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 11.21 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 1541.71 and the broad Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 1.45 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 835.19.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index futures contract improved 13 points to 3484, on a volume of 5584 contracts.
Market higher at noon
Large banks take beating on Wall Street
Shares higher as banks gain
