At 12.06pm (AEDT) the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was 25.3 points higher, or 0.73 per cent, at 3471.6, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 22.6 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 3408.8.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange the June share price index contract was trading up one point at 3479 on a volume of 20,174.
CMC Markets head of trading James Foulsham said the financial sector was lifting the local market.
"The market is looking relatively strong," Mr Foulsham said.
"We saw a 90 point move in the Dow last night, so it has not been as strong here as some might have expected.
"The real move is coming from banking stocks."
"Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Macquarie Group have been particularly strong.
"There was a fair bit of concern surrounding Macquarie for a few weeks there but that seems to have eased."
Mr Foulsham said sentiment in general had improved and there has been an increase in trading over the last few days.
"People are starting to buy again so it's quite a good sign in the short term.
"Whether it's going to be sustainable over the long term we'll have to wait and see."
The financial sector was mixed at 12.09pm.
Commonwealth Bank added 21 cents to $32.91 after it said it had raised $865 million from its investors under a share purchase plan.
NAB added 21 cents to $19.40, Westpac found 35 cents at $18.09 and Macquarie Group was up $1.06, or 4.68 per cent, at $23.69.
ANZ lost 14 cents to $14.66.
BHP was up 40 cents at $31.48 and Rio Tinto was down 88 cents at $46.62.
Wall Street swung higher overnight in volatile trade as sentiment was boosted by a Federal Reserve decision to add another $US1.15 trillion ($1.74 trillion) to its efforts to ignite an economic recovery.
The Dow Jones climbed 90.88 points, or more than 1 per cent, to 7486.58.
The Nasdaq jumped 29.11 points, or 1.99 per cent, to 1491.22 and the S&P500 index rallied 16.23 points, or more than 2 per cent, to 794.35.
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Financials push shares higher
