At noon AEST on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 57.1 points, or 0.72 per cent, to 7,988.8 points, while the broader All Ordinaries had climbed 23.2 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 8,225 points.
Markets remained focused on the political drama unfolding in the US though growing support for the vice president from Democrats kept uncertainty in check, with prediction markets still putting former president Donald Trump ahead to win the election.
Predict It was giving Trump 59 per cent implied odds of victory, compared to Harris' 43 per cent chances.
Locally, consumer sentiment shot up to a six-month high as households reported more confidence in their finances, likely stemming from stage three tax cuts and cost-of-living measures kicking in on July 1.
Markets have remained focused on Joe Biden's exit from the US presidential race. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
Westpac senior economist Pat Bustamante said market reaction to US President Joe Biden dropping out of the electoral race was quite muted.
"Instead, big gains in tech shares ahead of reporting season underpinned a strong bounce in US equities," he said.
At midday, 10 of the ASX's 11 sectors were higher, with tech posting the biggest gain of nearly two per cent, while energy was down 1.61 per cent.
Woodside extended losses for a third day, falling another 3.23 per cent, to $27.66, to a four-week low after the nation's biggest oil and gas producer undershot analyst forecasts for second quarter production volumes.
BHP was up 0.36 per cent, Fortescue had dropped 1.39 per cent and Rio Tinto had fallen 0.35 per cent.
All of the big four banks were higher, with ANZ up 1.15 per cent, NAB rising 1.71 per cent, Westpac growing 1.25 per cent and CBA gaining 0.96 per cent.
Spartan shares had soared 22.1 per cent, to a five-year high of $1.215, after updating the mineral resource estimate at the Dalgaranga Gold project in Western Australia.
The Australian dollar sank to its lowest level in almost a month, buying 66.37 US cents, from 66.64 US cents in Monday's ASX close, following China's surprise rate cut.
