The S&P/ASX200 jumped by more than one per cent in early trading but was up 62.1 points, or 0.78 per cent higher by midday, to 8030.3.
The broader All Ordinaries was up 59.3 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 8234.4, following a positive Wall Street session on Friday.
"Financial markets ended last week on a positive note, as reports suggested the Trump administration is preparing for intensive trade negotiations with major partners," Westpac senior economist Mantas Vanagas said.
"China announced that it is preparing emergency plans for further economic stimulus focusing on easing monetary policy and providing financing to key growth areas."
Ten of 11 local sectors were trading higher by lunchtime with IT stocks taking the lead, up 1.9 per cent in line with strength in US tech companies, which have posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
Financials helped lift the bourse higher, up 1.1 per cent with help from a more than 2 per cent rally for ANZ, after Citi upgraded it from 'sell' to 'neutral'.Â
The investment giant still has a sell rating on NAB, up 1.9 per cent, with Westpac (1.6 per cent) and CBA, which was 0.3 per cent higher after outperforming its peers last week.
The materials sector was down 0.9 per cent by lunch time, with large cap iron ore miners BHP, Fortescue and Rio Tinto all trading lower, and gold miners likewise in the red as the uptick in broader equities led investors to take some profits on the safe haven.
Gold is trading at around $US3273 ($A5127) an ounce, roughly a 6.5 per cent discount to last week's all-time peak of $US3500 an ounce.
Energy stocks were up 1.4 per cent despite oil prices being roughly on par with Friday and some moderate weekend volatility in futures markets.
Brent crude futures are trading at $US66.69 a barrel, inching slightly higher on Monday amid uncertainty over the US-China trade situation and a potential production hike from OPEC+.
Oil and gas giants Woodside and Santos were both up more than 1.7 per cent, and Yancoal was up 1.5 per cent.
It's a big week ahead for events and macro data, with the all-important Australian quarterly inflation figures due on Wednesday, and retail sales later in the week.
With five sleeps until the Australian election a hung parliament, and the potential market uncertainty that could bring, is still on the cards after the latest Newspoll shows the government leading the coalition 52 per cent to 48 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis.
In the US, investors will be looking to quarterly earnings for tech giants including Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, along with US payrolls data and the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure and personal consumption expenditures inflation, released on Thursday night.
The Australian dollar is buying 62.83 US cents, up from 63.71 US cents on Thursday at 5pm.
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