The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 107.4 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 7048.4 at noon The broader All Ordinaries was up 113.6 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 7,280.2.
While the ASX200's gains don't currently outweigh the losses, they still put the index on pace for its best day since January 28, when it rose 2.2 per cent.
Tech stocks were bouncing back in a big way after Thursday's horror losses, collectively rising 5.5. But the sector is still down eight per cent for the week.
Square - the worst performer on Thursday - was the best performer at noon, up 12.5 per cent to $112.37. Jack Dorsey's company is still down 21 per cent on the week, however.
Xero was up 5.9 per cent, Wisetech Global up 4.8 per cent and Link Administrative Holdings rose 9.4 per cent as the financial services company moved ahead with its proposed acquisition by a Canadian company.
Bigtincan Holdings was up 10.6 per cent to 57.5 cents after the cloud platform for sales teams announced it was joining the Oracle PartnerNetwork and expects to be cash flow break even next financial year.
The energy, health care, consumer discretionary, property and telecommunications sectors were all up by more than two per cent.
Wesfarmers had risen 3.0 per cent and Westfields owner Scentre Group was up 3.8 per cent.
All of the Big Four banks were up, as well as mining giants BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue.
Goldminers were mostly lagging the market as the price of the precious metal dropped, with Newcrest down 1.5 per cent and Evolution falling 1.2 per cent. Northern Star was flat.
The Australian dollar had dropped to a fresh 23-month low against its US counterpart. The Aussie was buying 68.69 US cents, from 68.85 US cents at Thursday's close.
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