The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 38.1 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 7892.2, while the broader All Ordinaries had lifted 34.9 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 8117 by midday on Tuesday.
The local bourse is expected to rise by 0.67 per cent by the daily close, Moomoo market strategist Jessica Amir said.
"It's the materials sector leading the S&P/ASX200 this year, with the gold price holding at record all-time highs," she said.
"Also locally, industrial stocks are doing well for two reasons: they're insulated from tariffs and the market believes they'll be beneficiaries of Australia's post-election infrastructure stimulus."
All 11 sectors were in the green with real estate stocks up 1.2 per cent, followed by energy stocks, which gained 0.9 per cent.
On the real estate front, Goodman Group was up 1.5 per cent, while Charter Hall, GPT and Lendlease were all up more than 1.6 per cent.
Energy stocks were helped by Woodside which was up 0.5 per cent and Santos, which had gained 1.2 per cent by midday, despite oil prices being slightly lower than the same time yesterday. Brent crude was trading just above the $US70 level.
Coal miner New Hope Corporation was the best performer in the top-200, surging more than 10 per cent after posting stellar first-half results, including a 35 per cent profit increase and lifting production by more than half.
Financials continued their run higher, gaining 0.5 per cent, with NAB the only big four bank in the red for the second day in a row, down 0.4 per cent as it faces a major executive shake-up.
Westpac outperformed the other three, up 1.1 per cent.Commonwealth Bank shares were trading 0.2 per cent higher to $144.88 at lunchtime.
Materials edged just 0.1 per cent higher, as iron ore prices failed to regain $US103, sending BHP down 0.1 per cent to $39.53 and leaving Rio Tinto trading flat by midday.
The Australian dollar continued to make ground against the greenback and was buying 63.84 US cents, up from 63.29 on Monday afternoon.
21°C