The Australian sharemarket gained on Thursday as strength in miners and a rebound in tech stocks offset a drag from bank stocks, which briefly had the market trading in negative territory.

The S&P/ASX200 Index rose 29.9 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 5908.5 points after falling as low as 5874.8 points.

The benchmark peaked early in the session, buoyed by an overnight rally on Wall Street as US tech stocks snapped a three day losing streak.

The positive lead from Wall Street powered a rebound in local tech stocks, with Afterpay gaining 2.1 per cent, Megaport climbing 3.6 per cent and Appen adding 3.2 per cent.

Mining heavyweights underwrote the market's narrow rise, bolstered by Citi forecasting iron ore prices to trade between $US100 a tonne and $US120 a tonne this year. BHP gained 0.5 per cent and Rio Tinto added 1.4 per cent.

Gold miners were also strong. Gold Road gained 6.2 per cent after reporting its inaugural half year profit after commissioning its Gruyere mine. Newcrest added 1.8 per cent.

Resolute tumbled 6.1 per cent after withdrawing production and cost guidance after workers at its Syama mine in Mali warned of a strike.

The big four banks were the main drag on the index. Commonwealth inched 0.1 per cent lower, while Westpac fell 0.4 per cent.

Other laggards included Lendlease (down 1.1 per cent) and Scentre Group (down 1.8 per cent).