By midday AEST, the S&P/ASX200 was up 26.5 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 8,257.7, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 26.6 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 8,488.9.
Weekend talks between China and US officials in Switzerland were hailed for making "substantial progress", but neither side mentioned plans to remove or reduce the States' 145 per cent duties on China's imports, nor for Beijing's 125 per cent imposts on US goods.
"This was ... a very constructive two days," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.
"It's important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as maybe thought."
Mr Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said more details would be released on Monday.
"While early reports called progress 'substantial', and the talks in Geneva are described as 'an important first step', there is nothing for investors to trade so far," Moomoo market analyst Michael McCarthy said.
"Higher interest rates than forecast seem inevitable, regardless of any reduction in tariffs, as the friction introduced to the global economic system filters through to consumer prices."
Seven of 11 local sectors were trading higher by midday, led by a 2.4 per cent rally in energy stocks as the trade talks between the world's two biggest oil consumers pushed the crude price higher, with Brent futures trading at $US63.78 a barrel.
Large cap miners also benefited from the lift in sentiment as the materials rose 0.8 per cent, with BHP up 1.9 per cent to $38.27 as Rio Tinto and Fortescue both grew more than 1.7 per cent each.
Gold miners were in a sea of red as the risk-on sentiment led investors away from the safe haven, which is down more than seven per cent from April's all-time peak at $US3,500 ($A5,445) an ounce.
South32 jumped 2.8 per cent per cent after it announced a succession plan for chief executive Graham Kerr, who will step down in 2026 to make way for Matthew Daley.
Mr Kerr has led the mixed miner since it was spun out of BHP in 2015.
ANZ's new chief executive takes the reins from Shayne Elliott today, its shares are up 0.6 per cent to $29.16.
NAB is down 2.5 per cent after going ex dividend, while CBA is up 0.5 per cent, helping the financial sector eke a 0.1 per cent lift by lunchtime.
The worst performing sector on the ASX was consumer staples, down 0.5 per cent, with Woolworths shedding 0.9 per cent to $32.95 as it announced plans to cut prices on hundreds of items from Wednesday.
Looking ahead this week, investors will be watching for trade developments between the US and China, while US inflation data due Tuesday night is expected to show the early impacts of 'Liberation Day' tariffs on American consumers.
Locally, Wednesday's employment data will be the last major economic figures ahead of the Reserve Bank's meeting next week, when markets expect the central bank to cut rates for the second time this year.
The Australian dollar is buying 64.23 US cents, up from 63. 97 US cents on Friday at 5pm.
