The local bourse has snapped a five-day losing streak, clawing back about half its recent losses with its best performance in five weeks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday finished up 74.7 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 7,421.2, while the broader All Ordinaries added 76.7 points, or 1.01 per cent, to 7,652.3.
For the week, the ASX200 finished down 1.0 per cent, however.
"It makes the week not look anywhere near as a bad as it otherwise would have been," said CommSec market analyst Steven Daghlian.
The ASX200 still finished one per cent down for the week and is down 2.2 per cent in January but he said "this is the type of move that makes this look like not a terrible week, at least".
The gains came after an overnight tech rally on Wall Street, with the Nasdaq rising 1.4 per cent on AI-related enthusiasm and Apple climbing 3.3 per cent - its best day since May - following a broker upgrade from Bank of America.
Every sector except utilities finished in the green, with technology the biggest gainer, rising 2.5 per cent.
Xero rose 4.8 per cent, Wisetech Global added 2.9 per cent and Audinate climbed 2.2 per cent.
The energy sector rose 1.2 per cent, with Whitehaven Coal climbing 3.8 per cent to an 11-month high of $8.11 as the coalminer said it was on track to meet 2023/24 production guidance.
Elsewhere in the sector, Yancoal closed up 4.9 per cent, New Hope advanced 2.9 per cent and Woodside rose 1.6 per cent.
In the heavyweight mining sector, Fortescue rose 2.0 per cent to $27.58 and Rio Tinto added 0.9 per cent to $128, while BHP was flat at $45.73.
All Big Four banks were up as well, with Westpac adding 1.5 per cent to $23.20, CBA advancing 0.7 per cent to $113.28 and NAB and ANZ both climbing 1.3 per cent, to $31.28 and $26.13, respectively.
The Lottery Corp was the biggest gainer in the ASX200, up 6.0 per cent to a four-month high of $4.93.
In the health care sector, Mesoblast rose 13.2 per cent to 30c after receiving a rare pediatric disease designation from US regulators for its stem cell therapy, Revascor.
Also, Imugene gained five per cent to 10.5c as a small clinical trial evaluating its novel cancer-killing virus progressed into higher doses, with 38 patients treated so far.
The Australian dollar was also bouncing back, buying 65.77 US cents, from 65.52 US cents at Thursday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday dropped 46.6 points, or 0.63 per cent, at 7,346.5
* The broader All Ordinaries fell 46.9 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 7,575.6
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 65.52 US cents, from 65.58 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close
* 96.97 Japanese yen, from 96.80 Japanese yen
* 60.15 Euro cents, from 60.37 Euro cents
* 51.67 British pence, from 52.02 pence
* 107.16 NZ cents, from 107.06 NZ cents.
