The Australian share market was up at midday, with most sectors gaining ground.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 16.8 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 7,092.4 points at noon, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 21.4 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 7,329.1.
The gains put the market on track for stringing together its first set of back-to-back gains this month, a stretch in which the ASX200 has declined 4.5 per cent.
Industrials were the biggest gainers at midday, rising 2.5 per cent as pallets giant Brambles climbed 10.5 per cent to an eight-month high of $11.52 after confirming it was in takeover talks with global private equity giant CVC Capital Partners.
"Brambles notes the engagement is preliminary, incomplete and there has been no formal proposal received from CVC," Brambles said.
Tech stocks were collectively up 2.3 per cent after last week's sell-off, with Xero rising 3.2 per cent and Block up 3.9 per cent.
Step One Clothing plummeted 56 per cent to an all-time low of 21c after downgrading its full-year earnings guidance, saying US and UK sales had been less than expected.
The direct-to-consumer bamboo underwear company said it now expected to earn $7 million to $8.5 million, down from $15 million previously forecast.
All four big banks were up, with Westpac leading the way with a 1.2 per cent gain.
The heavyweight mining sector was down however as Rio and BHP had both fallen by nearly two per cent.
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