The S&P/ASX 200 closed 5.7 points higher to 4510.5 points, while basic materials made no improvement on yesterday’s losses, falling 0.4%.

There was little economic data out to sway the mood and only a handful of miners managed marginal gains against a wave of sagging sentiment sweeping across the market.

Both majors BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto remained steady, with BHP edging up 6c to $A34.37 and Rio moving up 24c to $57.50.

Arrium soared ahead for a second day, jumping 8% to 87c on speculation of a higher takeover offer, while St Barbara’s losses worsened.

After declaring lower gold production for the September quarter yesterday, St Barbara shed a further 10.8% to $1.92.

More gold producers took a knock after the precious metal price fell overnight, with mining giant Newcrest Mining losing 1.8% to $26.01 and Alacer Gold decreasing by 8.7% to $5.25.

Shares in AngloGold followed suit, further impacted by strikes across its South African gold operations which affected gold output last quarter, falling by 6.3% to $6.25.

Iron ore producers didn’t fare much better, with Atlas Iron and Fortescue Metals Group both losing around 3%.

Atlas finished the day trading at $1.62 and FMG closed at $4.15.

Coal-focused Aquila Resources had a good day, with stocks up nearly 6% to $2.86 on no news.

At the junior end, Carbine Resources leapt by 12.7% to 5.3c, and Silver Lake Resources lost 4% to $3.44, despite starting mining at its Murchison gold project in Western Australia.

Copper-gold explorer Horseshoe Metals also struggled against the tide and fell 4% to 24c on the back of announcing copper hits at Horseshoe Lights.