The gold sector's gains stem from the US Federal Reserve opting to keep interest rates on hold but indicating the potential for rate cuts in the coming months.

Chairman Jerome Powell said the FOMC would monitor whether uncertainties continued to weigh on the economic outlook and noted "the case for additional accommodation has strengthened since our May meeting".

The US dollar spot gold price had shot up to US$1,379/oz at the time of writing, while the Australian dollar spot gold price was above A$2,006/oz according to the Perth Mint at midday.

Gold miners occupied all five top spots among market risers on the benchmark S&P/ASX200 in afternoon trade.

Resolute Mining (ASX: RSG) was up 9.44%, St Barbara (ASX: SBM) was up 7.5% and Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST), Regis Resources (ASX: RRL) and Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN) had each gained more than 6% at the time of writing.

Resolute will also debut on the London Stock Exchange today.
 
Elsewhere, nickel is worth more than US$12,000 per tonne and 62% iron ore fines were worth above $114/t according to MySteel, with news of Vale's Brucutu restart partially offset by Rio Tinto's reduced production outlook.