At noon AEST on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 30.6 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 7,267.4, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 30.6 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 7,457.5.
With a few hours of trading left, the ASX200 was up 13.7 points, or 0.2 per cent, since last Friday's close.
A better-than-expected March quarter earnings report from Walmart overnight helped boost sentiment, suggesting consumer power was resilient despite economic headwinds, said CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng.
"The US jobless claims were also lower than expected, indicating the US economy may not be as bad as thought," she wrote in a note.
"This strengthens a belief that the Fed will not start a rate-cut cycle this year."
At midday, eight of the ASX's 11 sectors were up, with tech the biggest gainer, climbing nearly two per cent.
Xero had advanced another 3.9 per cent to $106.52 following Thursday's strong earnings report, while Wisetech Global was up 1.1 per cent to $71.46.
All of the big four retail banks were having a good day, with ANZ and Westpac both up 1.4 per cent, CBA up 1.8 per cent and NAB advancing 1.9 per cent. Also, Macquarie had climbed 2.3 per cent.
Insurance companies were doing even better, with IAG climbing 4.5 per cent and Suncorp up 2.5 per cent.
Austal had soared 25.1 per cent to a five-month high of $1.995 after the Tasmanian shipbuilder's US subsidiary was awarded a new contract worth up to $3.2 billion to design and potentially build seven new surveillance ships for the US Navy.
"The T-AGOS contract is a clear acknowledgement of Austal's capability in steel naval shipbuilding," said Austal CEO Paddy Gregg.
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