The S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.3% or 13.8 points higher at 4452.4.

The market was buoyed by encouraging data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing dwelling approvals strengthened and retail turnover rose in August.

According to the ABS, dwellings approved rose by 6.4% in August, in seasonally adjusted terms, after falling by 21.2% in July.

Dwelling approvals increased by the highest level in Victoria, by 30.2%, followed by Western Australia on 16.1% and Queensland with 1.8%.

However, the data also revealed that in seasonally adjusted terms, approvals for private sector houses fell by 0.5% in August, with the largest margin noted in New South Wales, where approvals fell by 10.4%.

Encouragingly, the value of total building approvals and residential buildings rose by 9%, while non-residential building values added 9.8%.

Similarly, retail figures from the ABS painted a similar picture of improvement.

Retail turnover rose 0.2% in August compared to a fall of 0.8% in the prior month.

The largest contributing state was WA and the largest contributing sector was department stores, which rebounded from the large fall in turnover in the previous corresponding period.

Sentiment from strong US leads overnight also lifted stocks, but miners were mixed.

Mining giant BHP Billiton was trading 1.3% lower at $A32.99, while robust rival Rio Tinto moved up 0.4% to $53.95.

The biggest mover among the majors was Whitehaven Coal, increasing by 8.6% to $3.02 on no news.

Most juniors had a drizzling day, although UCL Resources bucked the trend when its shares jumped nearly 50% after supporting Minemakers’ decision to sell its 42.5% interest in the Sandpiper project to Mawarid Mining.

Ending an ongoing dispute between the pair, UCL shares indicated strong support for its new partner going forward to progress Sandpiper.

Similarly, Minemakers enjoyed a strong vote of confidence on the bourse with shares leaping 15% to 15.5c following its announcement.