The S&P/ASX 200 shrugged off its early session malaise to end Wednesday up 64 points, or 0.77%, at 8,349.10 points, crossing above its 50-day moving average.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 2.33% and is currently 1.94% off its 52-week high.
Materials retained its position as the top performing sector from early trade on Wednesday to advance 1.56% and reverse its losses over the past five days to register a gain of 0.49%.
Solid production results lifted some of the gold miners. Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) and Regis Resources (ASX:RRL) were the top performers of the day.
Bellevue advanced 7.07% to $1.06, Regis climbed 5.41% to $2.73 and Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX) rose 4.64% to $2.93.
Uranium explorer Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL) led the bottom five with a 6.32% retreat to $1.26. Fellow uranium miner Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) also ended the session in the red, slipping 3.83% to $8.28.
The S&P/ASX200 is Australia’s leading share market index and contains the top 200 ASX-listed companies in terms of market capitalisation, and accounts for about 80% of the country’s equity market. The index is designed to measure the performance of the 200 largest index-eligible stocks listed on the ASX by float-adjusted market capitalisation.
It is recognised as the institutional investable benchmark in the country.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: ASX & Stock
