A recovery in iron ore and crude oil prices is helping the Australian share market defy a flat lead from Wall Street.

The big miners were the main beneficiaries of a rebound in iron ore prices to close to the $US48 a tonne level, Morgans senior private client adviser Bill Chatterton said.

“That may be helping them a little bit,” he said.

BHP Billiton added 34 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $30.79 and Rio Tinto gained $1.33, or 2.4 per cent, to $57.48.

Iron ore pure play Fortescue Metals added six cents, or 3.3 per cent, to $1.855 but BC Iron shed one cent, or 3.3 per cent, to 29.5 cents.

Meanwhile, Atlas Iron’s share trading halt continued as the company considered asset sales and a review of its operations amid historically low ore prices.

Energy stocks benefited from a rebound in crude oil prices to $US53.98 a barrel in New York, the highest level for 2015 so far.

Woodside Petroleum added 35 cents to $34.72, Santos found 22 cents to $7.32 and Oil Search lifted 31 cents, or 4.3 per cent, to $7.54.

The broader market firmed even though US markets weakened, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipping 0.03 per cent and the broad-based S&P 500 dropping 0.2 per cent.

Among the local major banks, Commonwealth Bank added two cents to $94.23, National Australia Bank lifted 22 cents to $39.55, ANZ gained two cents to $36.92 and Westpac was seven cents higher at $39.73.

Myer added 4.5 cents, or 3.4 per cent, to $1.355 after billionaire Solomon Lew and private equity groups were rumoured to be considering making a takeover move on the troubled department store.

But Lew’s group Premier Investments fell two cents to $13.18.

Meanwhile, paper supplier PaperlinX asked that its trading suspension be extended.