At noon on Friday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 6.4 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 7119.2. The broader All Ordinaries was up 8.1 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 7365.8.
The energy sector was up 4.1 per cent, putting it on pace for its best day since a 5.3 per cent rise on March 7, as oil prices recovered some of their lost ground on a tighter supply outlook.
Woodside climbed 4.7 per cent to $33.68, Santos had gained 5.7 per cent to $7.47 and Beach was up 3.8 per cent to $1.7025.
Coalminers were having another phenomenal day, with Whitehaven up 6.4 per cent to an all-time high of $7.37, New Hope adding 4.3 per cent to $4.93 and Yancoal adding 4.7 per cent to $5.615.
Coal bull Emanuel Ajay Datt, principal of Datt Capital, tweeted that "not to be a wet blanket" but Whitehaven's move to $7 didn't excite him. "Wake me up if and when we get >$10".
Meanwhile the big banks were all lower, possibly dragged by more hawkish Federal Reserve commentary overnight.
ANZ was down 2.1 per cent to $23.09 and the other three big retail banks were lower by around one per cent.
Macquarie had added 0.7 per cent to $183.45.
In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP and Fortescue were both up 0.9 per cent and Rio Tinto had added 0.8 per cent.
Newcrest had added 4.5 per cent to $19.505 after the goldminer announced a bigger-than-expected dividend payout after a strong finish to the year.
AGL Energy was down 3.5 per cent to $7.875 after the country's largest generator posted an greater-than-expected 58 per cent drop in net profit after tax amid "unprecedented" market volatility.
Cochlear was up 4.0 per cent to $222.81 after the hearing device maker posted a rise in underlying full-year earnings and looked to a stronger 2022/23 with the launch of a new sound processor.
Stockland was down 2.2 per cent to $3.725 as the diversified property developer announced full-year profit was up 25 per cent to $1.38 billion.