By midday AEDT the S&P/ASX200 gained 44.4 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 7981.8, while the broader All Ordinaries rose 49.7 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 8208.1.
The early surge followed an overnight rally on Wall Street, fuelled by hopes of a less chaotic round of US tariffs when they're announced next week, with the White House flagging some exceptions and delays.
"Reports suggest that the Trump administration might exclude some sector-specific tariffs from the April 2 rollout, although no final decisions have been made yet," IG Markets strategist Tony Sycamore said.
The Australian government is preparing for tariffs on beef and lamb exports to the US, worth more than $4 billion to the economy in 2024, and on pharmaceuticals, worth $1.7 billion and representing two-fifths of total Australian drug exports.
Only three local sectors were trading lower, led by consumer staples and utilities stocks, each down 0.7 per cent, while materials stocks lost 0.2 per cent.
Woolworths and Coles continued to hand back some of their gains from Friday's favourable grocery inquiry report, shedding 1 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.
IT stocks were outperforming the market, up 2 per cent after taking the lead from US tech stocks after the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 2.3 per cent overnight..
Industrials, real estate stocks and health care stocks were all up more than 1 per cent while financials, which account for almost a third of the top 200's market cap, were up 0.8 per cent.
The Commonwealth Bank was the best performer of the big four banks, up 0.9 per cent to $148.93 by midday. Investment and financial services bank Macquarie Group did even better, surging 1.8 per cent to $203.00 per share.
South32 has recaptured its losses after a UBS downgrade on Monday and is up 1.2 per cent to $3.52, effectively where it closed last week.
Gold Road Resources was the best performer in the top-200, up 13.3 per cent, to $2.78.Â
James Hardie was still in the doldrums, down another 4.4 per cent to $38.27 after losing more than 12 per cent on Monday.
Oil futures rose 1.5 per cent after president Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on exports from countries buying Venezuelan oil. Brent crude futures were trading at $US72.38.
Gold has retreated roughly 1.5 per cent since Thursday from its all-time peak of $US3057.21/oz, thanks to a firm US dollar and president Trump's more careful stance on tariffs.
The Australian dollar is buying 62.86 US cents, up slightly from 62.81 US cents on Monday at 5pm.
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