The S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.5% to 5412 points, as basic materials led all sectors with a 1.7% gain on the session.

BHP Billiton gained 1.4% to $A36.40 and Rio Tinto finished 2.7% up at $63.07.

Trading confidence defied some mixed domestic data including a report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics charting a modest rise in unemployment over February.

Gold, however, returned as the driving factor for investors after the precious metal attained a six-month high at about $US1370 per ounce on worries surrounding the Ukraine crisis.

“Gold should be supported as long as the situation in Ukraine remains uncertain,” GF Futures analyst Zhu Siquan told Bloomberg.

“Technically, gold is starting to look a bit overbought.”

Yellow metal companies making waves on the day included Millennium Minerals (up 12.5% to A13.5c), Tanami Gold (up 13.3% to 3.4c) and Metaliko Resources (up 14.3% to 2.4c).

Gold players Excalibur Mining and Platina Resources both posted gains of at least 20% while Octagonal Resources bounced 14.8% on a drill report from its Alliance South gold project in Victoria.

Meanwhile, gold and copper explorer Southern Hemisphere Mining improved 15.6% to 5.2c after closing a rights issue for $1.3 million.

Iron ore companies were more subdued by comparison, with standouts including South American Ferro Metals (down 21.7% to 4.7c) and Iron Mountain Mining, which lost 11.8% to 1.5c after announcing a planned sale of its 47.9 million shares in Red River Resources.

Resources companies requesting trading halts included Mozambi Coal, Talga Resources and Rox Resources, which is expecting an announcement regarding a capital raising.

The Australian dollar was last trading at US90.61c.