At lunchtime AEDT on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 25.4 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 7,636.6, while the broader All Ordinaries had added 25.4 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 7,890.7.
Since the start of the week the ASX200 was down 22 points, or 0.29 per cent, with a few hours of trading left. Last week it gained 0.2 per cent.
Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda wrote that there was an "air of euphoria" on Wall Street overnight after AI chipmaker Nvidia smashed earnings expectations, a sparking another episode of AI-mania and leading the Nasdaq, the S&P500 and markets in Germany, France and Japan to hit all-time highs.
IG analyst Tony Sycamore wrote while he could think of a number of stocks that had triggered market meltdowns, he couldn't think of another that had single-handedly positively impacted global equities markets the way Nvidia had.
The tech sector was the ASX's biggest gainer at midday, rising 1.7 per cent, with Xero climbing 3.4 per cent and Audinate adding 2.5 per cent.
Aussie Broadband had advanced 14.8 per cent to a nearly two-year high of $4.385 after the internet provider announced operating cash flow was up 57.8 per cent to $40.7 million in the first half.
"Aussie continued to demonstrate positive operational performance in the first half of FY24," said co-founder and managing director Phillip Britt.
Afterpay owner Block had climbed 17.7 per cent to a seven-month high of $118.08. Jack Dorsey's company reported its gross profit rose 22 per cent to $US2.03 billion in the fourth quarter.
AI chipmaker Brainchip continued its rally, adding another 14 per cent to an eight-month high of 49c - up from 16c at the start of the month.
In the heavyweight mining sector, Newmont was down 6.8 per cent after the gold giant reported it generated $2.8 billion in cash in the fourth quarter.
Newmont also announced it would sell six goldmines, including Telfer and its majority stake in Havieron, also in WA, which it inherited during its acquisition of Newcrest Mining
BHP and Fortescue were both up 0.3 per cent, while Rio Tinto was flat.
The Big Four banks were all higher, with NAB gaining 1.4 per cent, ANZ and CBA adding 0.9 per cent and Westpac climbing 0.6 per cent.
The Australian dollar was buying 65.872 US cents.
15°C