At 12.00pm (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 33.6 points, or 0.89 per cent, at 3822, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 33.1 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 3814.7.
Bell Potter senior adviser Stuart Smith said confidence on Wall Street was spreading to the market.
"We are obviously following the US lead, not as strongly as you'd probably expect,'' he said.
"I still think we're headed for a slight correction, a downward movement which will we good for buyers. (But) it's steady as she goes today.''
The banks were mixed.
Commonwealth Bank gained 14 cents at $35.59, Westpac dropped 21 cents to $18.93, while National Australia Bank put on 21 cents to $21.85.
ANZ shares remained in a halt, last traded at $15.57,after the bank announced it will raise $2.85 billion by selling new shares at $14.40 to equity holders to bolster its cash holdings as it bids for some of Royal Bank of Scotland's Asian assets.
Miners were also confused in midday trade.
Mining giant BHP Billiton had put on 52 cents to $34.81, while rival Rio Tinto slid 28 cents to $65.18.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index contract was 44 points higher at 3821 on a volume of 14,557 contracts.
