Despite a good showing on Wall Street overnight, Australian shares opened just two points higher.

Investor sentiment soon gained traction upon the release of the data, with the S&P/ASX 200 index hitting an intraday high of 4814.2 points.

Before the close, HSBC Holding’s purchasing managers index was released, showing China’s manufacturing sector was expanding at its fastest rate in about two years.

The preliminary PMI index was 51.9 in January, up from 51.5 in December.

At the closing bell, the index closed up 0.5% or 22.4 points to 4810.2 points.

All sectors apart from basic materials performed well.

It was a busy day on the bourse for the local miners, with a string of companies releasing quarterly and full-year production results.

Shares in OZ Minerals finished down 6.3% to $A6.85 after announcing full-year copper production had tipped in at the lower end of its guidance and it flagged a further drop in the output of the red metal in 2013.

PanAust also lost ground following the release of its production report, retreating 9% or 30c to $3.05.

Other gold companies were mixed, with Kingsgate Consolidated losing 6.6% to $4.68 while St Barbara shed 4.9% to $1.55 and Endeavour Mining Corporation advanced 2.8% to $2.20.

After investors initially responded negatively to Newcrest Mining’s results, the gold miner managed to close in the black, adding 1.8% to $23.98.

Elsewhere, Fortescue Metals Group lost 0.6% to $4.63 while Rio Tinto lost 0.2% to $66.29.

Energy Resources of Australia picked up 5.6% to $1.41 on the back of finalising a mining agreement for its Ranger project.

Meanwhile, shares in Mindax added 12.5% to 9c after it said it was in discussions with an unnamed party to potentially fast-track the development of its Mt Forrest project.