Sentiment was boosted in early trading amid gains on Wall Street, with the S&P/ASX 200 index managing to pass 5000 points a few times throughout the day.

Jobs data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the unemployment rate had risen 0.2% in March to 5.6%, the highest level since November 2009.

While the rise in the jobless rate followed on from a surprise jump in employment in February, the figures sparked talk of a possible rate cut.

“This should reinforce to the policy makers that the labour market still remains soft,” Citigroup senior economist in Sydney Joshua Williamson told Bloomberg.

“It reinforces the need for another cut in rates.”

While the Aussie dollar dropped slightly on the job figures to $US1.051, the market managed to stay in positive territory to close up 0.8% or 39.1 points to 5007.1 points.

After leading gains on the market this week, the miners were today’s worst performer after basic materials sank 0.9%.

Global miner BHP Billiton lost 0.8% to $A33.40 while rival Rio Tinto shed 0.4% to $58.03.

Despite a rise in the spot iron ore price to more than $US140 per tonne, iron ore companies tracked lower. Atlas Iron fell 2.2% to $1.12 while Fortescue Metals Group closed down 0.7% to $3.95.

Most gold companies were sold off as the price of the precious metal continued to flounder.

PanAust finished 2.7% lower to $2.51, Resolute Mining dipped 8% to $1.09 and Evolution Mining backtracked 4% to $1.33.

It was a better story for the smaller capped companies, with Orbis Gold gaining 20% to 24c after drill results confirmed its Natougou project as a new gold discovery.

Meanwhile, shares in Alkane Resources leapt 24% to 59.5c after the release of a definitive feasibility study for its Dubbo project.

Manhattan Corporation requested a trading halt regarding an announcement on an offering of shares.