The S&P/ASX 200 rallied 106 points higher to 5202.

The basic materials sector was also 2.7% higher.

Strong gains from the big miners joined with other sectors to help lift the market, with BHP Billiton up 2.8% to $A36.80 and Rio Tinto up 1.8% to $66.53.

The Australian dollar was lower following news from the US, falling to US88.42c after previous losses.

The gold spot price also fell overnight but recovered slightly during today’s trading, up over 2% to $1220.73 a tonne.

Gold stocks were some of the few to miss out on the gains today, with one of the sector’s heavier losses coming from Ausgold, which was down 41.2% to A1c.

Copper stocks also saw some big movements, with Monax Mining up 35.3% to 2.3c and Minotaur Exploration 15% higher to 11.5c.

Still in copper, Discovery Metals was 22.6% lower to 4.1c after announcing a $112.8 million recapitalisation proposal had lapsed.

Copper and gold explorer Elementos was also up 33.3% to 2c.

These gains came despite copper prices flattening, with copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange trading at $US7234 a tonne.

In other parts of the market Peak Resources was up 14.3% to A8c after signing a non-binding memorandum of understanding with a Chinese partner to develop its Ngualla rare earths project.

Investors also focused on PLD Corporation, with its volume rising from zero to 3.6 million today after confirming high priority targets at the Rocky Gully nickel-copper project in Western Australia’s Albany Fraser belt.

PLD shares finished 33.3% higher at 0.8c.