Resource companies have shaken off a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing to help the Australian sharemarket finish higher.
At 4.15pm AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 18 points, or 0.36 per cent, at 5035.1.
The broader All Ordinaries index was up 17.2 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 5021.8.
Shares took a short-lived hit in early afternoon trade after HSBC's purchasing managers index showed industrial activity in the world's second biggest economy falling to an 11-month low in July.
"It certainly was the most surprising thing to happen to the market today, so that's where we did see an impact, in both the currency and the market, but fortunately we have managed to recover in the late afternoon trade," CommSec market analyst Juliette Saly said.
Ms Saly said resource stocks benefitted as gold prices held above $US1330 an ounce.
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"We are seeing commodity prices back in favour and that's been helping the mining sector."
Iron ore miner Fortescue vastly outperformed the market, reversing yesterday's losses, to rise 15c, or 4.1 per cent, to $3.77.
Atlas Iron rose 7.5c, or 9 per cent, to 91c after reporting a 16 per cent increase in shipping volumes during the June quarter, with expectations to lift production further this financial year.
BHP Billiton also did well, rising 23c to $34.73 while Rio Tinto rose 92c to $57.68.
Among other market heavyweights, telco giant Telstra added five cents to $5.01, marking a 1 per cent increase.
The market appeared to overlook official data showing headline inflation rising by 0.4 per cent in the June quarter, for an annual increase of 2.4 per cent, with both levels marginally below economists' median forecasts.
Financials performed well, with ANZ rising 6c to $28.98, Commonwealth Bank up 51c to $72.90, Westpac up 26c to $29.75 and NAB up 18c to $30.67.
Bucking the positive trend, property group Australand fell 5c to finish at $3.45 after revealing that its net profit fell 1.4 per cent to $88.4 million in the six months to June 30, compared with the same period in 2012.
Its shares have fallen since Monday, when its chief shareholder CapitaLand, a Singapore-based real estate group, opted this week to retain its Australand stake, following a six-month strategic review.
On the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was 16 points higher at 4993 with 21,411 contracts traded.
National turnover was 1.5 billion securities worth $4.8 billion.