The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index increased 8.2 points or 0.17% to 4938.4 at 4.17pm (AEDT), while the broader All Ordinaries gained 7.4 points to close on 5026.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 61.53 points higher or 0.5% to 12,288.17, while the S&P 500 gained 8.31 points or 0.63% to 1336.32.

Higher profits from Qantas Airways and Neptune Orient to Santos are adding to signs the rebound in the global economy is gaining momentum.

“Economic sentiment is improving and that is supporting the stock market,”Bloomberg quoted Tokyo-based Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co’s Mitsushige Akino as saying.

News from China, Australia’s largest trading partner, had foreign direct investment in the country climbing in January, adding to record inflows last year of $US105.7 billion that are exacerbating Premier Wen Jiabao’s challenge of taming overheating risks.

Investment rose 23.4% to $10 billion last month from a year earlier, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement released in Beijing today.

“Foreign inflows are complicating the government’s efforts to reduce excess liquidity and contain inflation,”Bloomberg quoted Taipei-based Bank SinoPac economist Scott Chen.

“These long-term capital inflows will also add pressure for the yuan to appreciate.”

In local news, high rainfall in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia has forced Crescent Gold to close its Laverton operations and evacuate 100 personnel.

Today, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a flood warning for the goldfields district and says isolated thunderstorms and moderate to heavy falls are forecast from an area from the northern goldfields towards Eucla and could produce rainfall in excess of 100mm.

To 9am today, Laverton recorded 110mm of rain, Yeelirrie 57mm, Leonora 53mm and Kalgoorlie-Boulder 16mm.

Of the big miners, BHP Billiton gained A5c to $46.64, while Rio Tinto shed 51c to $87.65, Fortescue Metals Group was up 1c to $6.87, OZ Minerals jumped 2c to $1.73 and Paladin Energy dropped 13c to $5.08.

Argosy Minerals recorded one of the biggest share price gains of the day, climbing 27.3% or 4.5c to 23.5c on no news, while Norseman Gold had one of the biggest falls of the day, down 16.7% or 15c to 75c after announcing a capital raising and downgrading its production guidance for the year to 65,000 ounces.

Spot gold was $US3.95 higher and was fetching $1378.35 an ounce at 4.30pm AEDT.

Australia’s largest locally owned gold producer Newcrest Mining closed the day A24c higher on $38.49, while Kingsgate lost 18c to $9.64 and AngloGold Ashanti jumped 11c to $9.10.

As for commodities traded on the London Metal Exchange, all were lower with the exception of tin, which actually stayed the same on $US32,500 a tonne.

Copper for three month delivery dropped $169 to $9842/t, nickel fell $170 to $28,575/t, lead dropped $43 to $2592/t, zinc was reduced by $5 to $2486/t and aluminium closed $1 lower on $2504/t.

The Australian dollar was also trading just above parity with the greenback.