The S&P/ASX 200 rose 61 points to finish at 5131 and the basic materials sector finished 1.2% higher.

The Australian dollar also continued its run, ending at US89.58c.

The gains came as NAB’s quarterly business survey showed business confidence in the December quarter was at its highest in more than 2.5 years.

The survey found conditions rose to eight points in the quarter, up from five in the third quarter of 2013.

Despite the wider gains, mining was the third weakest sector and NAB said conditions were still soft in many parts of the economy.

The big miners were both higher today, with BHP Billiton up 0.7% to $A35.57 and Rio Tinto up 1.5% to $65.65.

Other positive moves came from Kimberley Diamonds, which was up 13% to $1.13, while Dart Mining rose 10% to 3.3c.

Even stronger gains came from Firestrike Resources, which was up 66.7% to 3c after it claimed a US copper sampling program might have revealed a “company maker” asset.

Unity Mining was also up 10.7% to 4.1c after it announced gold production figures from the Henty mine for January.

Birimian Gold was another big mover, rising 14.3% to 1.6c after starting field work at the Basawa gold project in Liberia.

Alliance Resources also rose 12.9% to 17.5c after drilling doubled the strike length at the Four Mile Northeast uranium prospect.

Some of the day’s heavier losses came from Orinoco Gold, which emerged from a trading halt 20.7% lower at 9.5c after announcing a capital raising.

Other losses came from iron ore explorer Volta Mining, which dropped 35% to 6.5c, while Kupang Resources fell 13.3% to 5.8c.