At noon on Thurday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 42.1 points or 0.55 per cent, to 7,737.9, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 44.6 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 7,999.
In the predawn hours, the Fed kept rates on hold, as had been widely expected, while issuing a "dot plot" projection that continued to forecast three rate cuts by the year's end, despite a recent uptick in US inflation.
"This is a Fed that wants to reduce interest rates," said Seema Shah, chief Global Strategist with Principal Asset Management.
The Fed predicted three rate cuts in 2025 rather than the four it had forecast in December, likely due to strong recent jobs data and hotter than expected consumer price increases in January and February.
Closer to home, the market was also digesting a domestic labour market report that was far stronger than expected.
Australia's economy added 116,500 jobs in February, compared to consensus expectations of 40,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 3.7 per cent.
"Today's result will greatly reduce pressure on the Reserve Bank to signal rate cuts anytime soon," said Betashares chief economist David Bassanese.
The Australian dollar quickly jumped to a one-week high against its US counterpart following the jobs report.
Nine of the ASX's 11 sectors were up at midday, with utilities flat and health care down 0.6 per cent.
Financials were the biggest mover, climbing 1.1 per cent as all of the big four banks gained ground.
NAB was up 2.0 per cent, Westpac climbed 1.2 per cent, CBA added 1.1 per cent and ANZ was up 0.7 per cent.
In the heavyweight mining sector, goldminers were shining after the precious metal rose 0.8 per cent to hit an all-time high of $US2,200 an ounce following the Fed meeting.
Newmont was up 3.4 per cent, Evolution grew 5.0 per cent and Northern Star climbed 2.5 per cent.
Elsewhere in the sector, BHP dipped 0.4 per cent, Rio Tinto fell 0.9 per cent and Fortescue was 0.2 per cent lower.
Atlas Arteria was up 1.5 per cent to $5.36 after the toll road operator announced that chief executive and managing director Graeme Bevans intends to retire, although he will stay on until a replacement can be found.
The Australian dollar was buying 66.17 US cents, from 65.30 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.
