The S&P/ASX200 was up 37.6 Â points, or 0.51 per cent in early trading, to 7380.9, as the broader All Ordinaries lifted 56.8 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 7581.
The rebound on Tuesday came after two indexes plummeted more than 4.1 per cent each on Monday, erasing $109 billion from the top 500 stocks.
Wall Street closed mostly lower overnight with the S&P500 giving away 0.23 per cent after a wild, short-lived, three per cent rally on false news of a delay of US tariff implementation.
"Contrasting tariff messages caused wild swings in equity markets overnight, with European indexes sharply lower," ANZ analysts wrote in a research note.
"The market briefly thought there would be a 90-day pause on tariff implementation, but this was denied."
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose an extra 50 per cent tariff on goods from China unless it retracts its 34 per cent retaliatory impost on US goods.
The market response to the move has been mixed after Mr Trump also invited trade partners to negotiate, increasing the likelihood the tariffs have room to move.
Six of 11 local sectors were trading higher by 11am AEST, with real estate leading losses, down 0.34 per cent.
IT stocks led the gains, up 2.4 per cent, followed by consumer discretionary stocks, which were up two per cent.
Monday's heavy losses in energy stocks and materials had narrowed slightly, up two per cent and 1.5 per cent.
Financials were trading slightly lower, down 0.4 per cent after tanking 4.8 per cent on Monday.
Oil prices have rebounded slightly, but remain at three-year lows as global growth forecasts shrink crude demand expectations, with Brent trading just above $US65 a barrel.
Ongoing uncertainty in markets would likely cause volatility for some time to come, Moomoo market strategist Jessica Amir said.
"Investors that are not into riding roller coasters should sit back until May or June, which is how long US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said tariff negotiations could take," Ms Amir said.
"While they are sitting on a big cash pile, investors need to see certainty before they'll 'buy the dip'."
Gold was down for a third straight session, losing 2.4 per cent to $US2,963.19 per ounce.
The Australian dollar, which has plummeted more than five per cent since the "Liberation Day" tariffs were announced, is holding above 60 US cents after consolidating below the psychological level for most of the night.
The Aussie is buying 60.06 US cents, down from 60.14 US cents on Monday at 5pm.
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