Around lunchtime AEDT the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 26.3 points, or 0.32 per cent, 8,336.7.
Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda said a phone call on Friday between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping - where the two world leaders reportedly discussed TikTok, trade and Taiwan - had reignited bullishness in equities.
Meanwhile in the Middle East, Israel freed 69 Palestinian women and 21 teenage boys - some who had been detained without charges - after Hamas freed three hostages.
Nine of the ASX's 11 sectors were in the green at midday, with industrials and health care basically flat.
The consumer discretionary, tech and utility sectors were the biggest movers, all up 0.5 per cent.
In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP was up 0.6 per cent, Rio Tinto had advanced 1.1 per cent and Fortescue had edged 0.1 per cent higher.
Goldminers were lower as the precious metal traded for $US2,694 an ounce after climbing as high as $US2,720 last week.
Northern Star was down 2.5 per cent, Evolution had dropped 1.5 per cent and Westgold had slid 3.0 per cent.
Ioneer had jumped 20.6 per cent to a month-and-a-half high of 20.5 cents after the lithium-boron producer received a US$996 million ($A1.6 billion) loan from the US Department of Energy to develop a lithium processing facility in Nevada.
Star was down 5.4 per cent to 13.25 cents after the troubled casino company warned there was "material uncertainty as to the group's ability to continue as a going concern", given its precarious finances. Â
All of the big four banks were modestly higher, up either 0.1 or 0.2 per cent.
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