The S&P/ASX 200 index finished the day up 0.96% or 40.2 points to 4244.5, while the All Ordinaries followed suit, gaining 39.6 points to 4306.

The Australian dollar remained above parity with the greenback and was fetching $US1.01 at 4.09pm (AEDT).

Wall Street again set the pace for stocks with the Standard & Poor’s Index closing 0.98% or 11.71 points higher on 1207.25, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed nearly 1% higher, a gain of 102.55 points to 11,518.85.

Locally, unemployment fell to a seasonally adjusted 5.2% last month from 5.3% in August, while the number of employed, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, rose 20,400 and full-time work increased 10,800.

It was the first time since March the country’s unemployment rate declined, prompting traders to rein in bets of an interest rate cut next month, as evidence mounts Australia’s economy is weathering global market turmoil with improved consumer and business confidence.

“The latest rise in employment was certainly a welcome relief,”Bloomberg quoted Sydney-based Commonwealth Bank of Australia economist Savanth Sebastian.

“For those expecting a rate cut in November, the latest employment result does muddy the waters.”

In other news, Rio Tinto was the first of the majors to release its September quarter results and again it set production records for its iron ore and hard coking coal divisions.

The major is on track to produce 240 million tonnes of iron ore and 18Mt of coking coal this year but revised down its copper production estimate to 337,000t from 350,000t.

Rio shares closed $1.88 higher on $69.34, while BHP Billiton gained 56c to $37.64, Fortescue Metals Group jumped 34c to $5.06, OZ Minerals jumped 47c to $11.08 and Paladin Energy gained 3c to $1.71.

Australia’s largest mineral sands miner Iluka Resources also had a good day on the bourse after its September quarterly beat analysts’ forecasts and revealed higher grades, processing rates and recoveries, which helped lift its volumes.

A share price stand-out today was Meteoric Resources, with its shares up more than 41% or 2.3c to 7.9c after shallow, high-grade gold was confirmed at its Tibooburra prospect in New South Wales.

Gold junior Navigator Resources also had a run, jumping 36.36% to 3c and has since gone into a trading halt after being queried by the Australian Securities Exchange.

Gold stocks were also higher, with Australia’s largest locally owned miner Newcrest Mining gaining 72c to $36.56, while Kingsgate Consolidated jumped 2c to $7.73.

At 4.36pm (AEDT) the spot price of gold was relatively unchanged on $1676.30 an ounce.

– with Bloomberg