The S&P/ASX 200 finished eight points higher at 5585 but the materials sector was the worst performer, down 0.1%.

At the top of the market one of the biggest moves came from Newcrest Mining, which fell 6.2% to $A10.78 after releasing its quarterly report.

While production data from the gold giant was positive, the performance was overshadowed by an expected $2.5 billion impairment.

Fellow gold miner Beadell Resources also fell 2.6% to 57c after releasing an uninspiring quarterly report.

It wasn’t all bad news for gold miners, however, with St Barbara rising 9.4% to 11.5c.

Things were also positive at the smaller end of the market, with Meteoric Resources up 20% to 3.6c after Blaze International posted promising drilling results from their Barkly joint venture in the Northern Territory.

In other areas BHP Billiton was up 0.1% to $39.06 and Rio Tinto rose 1% to $65.25.

Results were mixed in the iron ore sector but Atlas Iron was one of the best performers, rising 3.4% to 59c.

The Pilbara producer was riding high after releasing a positive performance for the June quarter and an impressive outlook for the financial year.

In other updates Hazelwood Resources received a price query after it rose 16.7% to 4.2c and Boart Longyear was questioned over its stellar run this week.

Companies entering trading halts included Avalon Minerals, which went on hold pending details on a capital raising, while Buxton Resources was also in suspension pending exploration results from the Yalbra graphite project in Western Australia.