The S&P/ASX200 rose 50.2 points by midday, up 0.56 per cent, to 9,069.2, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 51.2 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 9,367.8.
The uptick followed a strong Wall Street finish on Friday, after US inflation figures all but secured a US interest rate cut.
Australian quarterly inflation data due on Wednesday will likely determine whether the Reserve Bank can do the same at its November meeting.
Further afield, central banks in Japan, Canada and Europe will take their rate decisions, leaders from the US and China will hold long-awaited trade talks and five of the Magnificent Seven tech companies will deliver quarterly earnings.
"It doesn't get much bigger than this: the week ahead will set the tone for the rest of the year in financial markets," Capital.com market analyst Kyle Rodda said.
"It's a collision of the three biggest drivers of the markets right now: US rate cuts, trade policy uncertainty, and US tech profits."
Eight of 11 local sectors were trading clearly higher by lunchtime, as utilities slipped 0.2 per cent and energy stocks traded flat after each posted solid gains last week.
Financials helped push the bourse higher, up 1.1 per cent as NAB led the big four banks up to 1.4 per cent higher, while CBA gained 0.9 per cent to $171.95.
Other interest rate-sensitive sectors such as consumer discretionary stocks and industrials caught a bid, each lifting more than 0.8 per cent.
Australia's tech sector benefited from the macroeconomic backdrop and a strong finish from Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq on Friday, with smaller players such as Life360 (+4.1 per cent), NextDC (+1.3 per cent) and Megaport (+1.8 per cent) edging out their large cap competitors.
The raw materials sector was 0.4 per cent higher, tracking with modest gains in iron ore giants BHP and Rio Tinto, while Fortescue was a cut above with a 1.1 per cent gain to $20.74.
Gold miners were mixed as the precious metal moved lower to $US4,074 ($A3,502) an ounce, as Northern Star (+2.0 per cent) and Evolution (+1.2 per cent) made gains, but US-headquartered Newmont slipped 2.3 per cent lower after its solid quarterly production report failed to shoot the lights out.
Ramelius Resources was the top-200's worst performer, sliding more than five per cent lower as its gold production tumbled almost a 25 per cent in the September quarter.
Rare earths miners continued to face profit taking as the dust settled on a US-Australia investment deal. Lynas Rare Earths faded 2.2 per cent, while mineral sands producer Iluka tumbled almost three per cent to $7.48.
Energy stocks were roughly flat as oil prices hung on to the previous week's late gains, while coal producers were largely steady.
Uranium miners caught a bid after selling off the week before, but enrichment technology Silex Systems continued to go from strength to strength, rallying another 5.3 per cent so-far on Monday.
Elsewhere in the segment, Beach energy gained 0.8 per cent after inking a gas supply deal with Visy.
The Australian dollar is buying 65.29 US cents, up from 64.99 US cents on Friday at 5pm, as investors mulled a steeper interest rate cut projection for the US relative to Australia.
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