Near noon AEDT on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 73.2 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 8,490.1, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 72.3 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 8,755.4.
Thursday and Wednesday's gains mean the ASX200 is just 40 points away from recouping all of Monday's sharp losses and returning it to record territory.
Overnight a gauge of activity in the US service sector came in softer than expected for January, which was seen as slightly increasing the odds that the Federal Reserve would cut rates by June.
NVIDIA shares meanwhile gained 5.4 per cent after Google parent company Alphabet said it would spend $US75 billion on capital expenditures in 2025, more than analysts expected.
Nine of the ASX's 11 sectors were higher at midday, with energy and utilities lower.
The consumer discretionary sector was the biggest gainer, rising 1.8 per cent as Kmart owner Wesfarmers surged 3.0 per cent to $76.90.
News Corp's ASX-listed shares were up 5.1 per cent to $55.91 after the media giant posted $2.24 billion in revenue in the three months to December 31, up five per cent from a year earlier.
"This is a strong result, and we'd expect the stock to outperform the market today," E&P analyst Entcho Raykovski said.
All of the big four banks were sharply higher, with ANZ gaining 2.3 per cent, Westpac climbing 2.1 per cent, CBA rising 2.0 per cent and NAB advancing 2.6 per cent.
In the heavyweight mining sector, Fortescue had gained 1.4 per cent and Rio Tinto had added 0.2 per cent, while BHP was down 0.4 per cent.
The energy sector was down 0.8 per cent, with Woodside falling 0.6 per cent and Ampol dropping 1.2 per cent.
The Australian dollar was at a one-week high against its US counterpart, buying 62.78 US cents, from 62.50 US cents at 5pm on Wednesday.
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