The S&P/ASX 200 index bounced back from an early low of 4754.7 points to end the session 0.34% higher at 4784, while the All Ordinaries index added 0.32% to 4868.8 points.

The Australian market bucked the negative lead from Wall Street where the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.17% and the broader-based S&P 500 index was 0.51% lower.

“[The market] is very resilient to overseas weakness,”Dow Jones Newswires quoted a senior trader at a major brokerage as saying.

The major miners had a flat session with BHP Billiton closing slightly higher at $A45.38, up 3c, while Rio Tinto finished 2c lower at $87.

Australia’s third-largest iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group fell 6c to $6.72.

The iron ore miner is in advanced talks with explorer Brockman Resources to provide rail haulage, port access and marketing service for Brockman’s Marillana project in Western Australia.

Brockman finished the session 2c higher at $4.92.

Meantime, OZ Minerals closed 4.5c lower at $1.655, however Alumina added 12c to $2.50 while Paladin Energy ended 10c higher at $5.03.

Spot gold was trading at $US1380.30 an ounce, down 0.02%, at 4:24pm AEST.

Newcrest Mining gained A18c to close at $41.46, Perseus Mining gained 2c to $3.28 Kingsgate Consolidated added 5c to $10.50 while Medusa Mining dipped 24c to $6.50.

LME metals are down after a weak session yesterday. Copper fell on expanded stockpiles and worries that Europe’s foreign debt crisis will ultimately impact on global demand for the red metal.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dipped as much as 0.9% to $US9018 per tonne in today’s trade.

One of the big movers by percentage on the Final Call watchlist today was emerging Mid West iron ore company Venus Metals Corporation which closed 17c, or around 10%, higher at $1.92 on news that the company and its Chinese partner believe the quality of the magnetic concentrates from the Yalgoo project will rival many of its Australian magnetite peers, based on recent metallurgical testwork.