The S&P/ASX200 rose 81.1 points by midday, up 0.96 per cent to 8,529, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 90 points, or 1.03 per cent, to 8,811.4.
Groundbreaking earnings from Nvidia, a US chip maker and the world's biggest company, has refuelled positivity in the local information technology sector, rising 4.8 per cent to noon.
The US giant forecasts above-expectations revenue of $US65 billion ($A100 billion) in the current quarter, leaving its Australian counterparts on track for their biggest single-day rise since April.
The bumper Nvidia result allayed fears of an AI bubble set to burst, but broader concerns about the US market were not allayed.
"Market watchers were keen to see whether Nvidia's results and forward guidance were supportive of the AI sector's high valuations," Moomoo analyst Paco Chow said.
"Investors also remain cautious over uncertainty around US interest rates, with Federal Reserve meeting minutes showing a split over the timing of future cuts."
Local tech giants WiseTech (5 per cent), Xero (5 per cent) and TechnologyOne (6.1 per cent) all saw spectacular jumps in early trading.
Eight of 11 local sectors are trending higher at midday as segment leaders helped lift the market higher.
The heavyweight financials sector is on track for its first positive day in nearly two weeks, up 0.8 per cent, as the big banks lead a resurgence in optimism.
After four straight sessions of losses, Commonwealth Bank rallied one per cent to $152.90 a share while Westpac, NAB and ANZ all ticked less than one per cent higher.
Materials were also strong, lifting 1.6 per cent, as dominant forces Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP all lifted half of one per cent and gold and rare earths skyrocketed.
After rising 5.6 per cent on Wednesday, rare earth miner Lynas is enjoying an even bigger jump, up 6.9 per cent, as gold miners Evolution, Northern Star and Westgold all ticked more than 2.9 per cent higher.
Spot gold prices bumped up 0.6 per cent to $US4,106 ($A6,332) an ounce.
Flat oil prices left the energy sector as one of the few underperformers in early trading, down 0.5 per cent, with segment giants Woodside and Santos each down more than one per cent and weighing on the division's prospects.
The big loser so far was the utilities sector, down more two per cent, driven by a big fall in the biggest player Origin Energy, which shaved 2.9 per cent from its share price.
In company news, former market sweetheart DroneShield continued to haemorrhage support, down about three per cent to $1.92, even as it told the ASX its three directors did not agree to simultaneously sell shares worth $70 million.
Financial services company Magellan lost two per cent after news broke of the resignation of its head of global equities, Arvid Streimann, amid allegations he had a relationship with a junior employee.
"This had been separately brought to our attention and is under internal investigation," Magellan told the ASX in a statement.
The Australian dollar was buying 64.82 US cents, down from 64.89 at 5pm on Wednesday.
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