The benchmark S&P-ASX200 index closed 24.4 points higher at 4566.5 points, while the S&P Metals and Mining index closed 32.4 points higher at 4392.7 points and the broader All Ordinaries index reached 4584.9 points, a gain of 25.2 points.
Of the big miners, BHP Billiton closed A16c higher at $40.84, while Rio Tinto finished the day 17c higher to $73.01 thanks to record half-yearly earnings and underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $US11.3 billion, 85% higher than the corresponding period in 2009.
Shares in iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group gained A8c to close at $4.40 after announcing Downer EDI had won a six-year contract worth $3 billion to provide mining services to its Christmas Creek project.
Merrill Lynch also initiated coverage of the stock, giving FMG a buy recommendation with a $5.47 price target on the back of its rapid growth.
It said buoyant iron ore prices in 2010-11 had improved the company’s funding capacity.
Uranium producer Paladin Energy gained 27c to $4.09 after announcing it had signed a memorandum of understanding with premier Chinese nuclear group China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Corporation in relation to potential nuclear offtake and increased exposure to a joint venture with Energy Metals in the Northern Territory.
OZ Minerals closed 2.5c higher at $1.245.
Spot gold also held its ground to stay at $US1194.30 an ounce, which represented nearly a three-week high, driven by speculation about further easing of US monetary policy and a chance of increased Chinese demand.
The gold majors Newcrest Mining and Lihir Gold also enjoyed a day in the sun, their shares up A54c and 7c respectively to $34.41 and $4.27.
One company which received a speeding ticket from the ASX after its shares jumped by 15.49% to an intra-day high of 41c before dropping back to 39.5c at the time of market close was Alkane Resources.
In response, Alkane advised the exchange it had no explanation for the move, other than a recent strong buy recommendation published in an independent publication called Australian Small-Cap Investigator.
As for the Australian dollar, a currency strategist with Barclays Capital told Dow Jones Newswires its recent run to 91.58c today, before retreating slightly at market close to 91.53c, was more about the weakness of the US dollar than anything else.
He said the strong correlation between USD performance and US data had Australian traders on edge ahead of US payrolls data tomorrow.
His firm’s expectations are for modestly better-than-expected jobs data tomorrow, which could reverse the declining USD.
Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange also recouped most of the previous day’s losses, with copper reaching a near three-month high of $US7505 per tonne, which one analyst said appeared to reflect a resumption of the risk trade.
Zinc rose by $34.50 to $2110/t, tin by $435 to $20,280/t, aluminium by $25 to $2228/t, nickel by $300 to $21,950/t and lead by $24 to $2243/t.
