The share market has posted a second straight day of strong gains as the major banks continue to rebound.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 1.1 per cent, following Tuesday’s gain of 1.7 per cent, its best daily performance in seven months.
“The banks have again been the best movers and considering they account for up to a quarter of the volume of the market it’s not been a surprising day,” Commsec market analyst Steven Daghlian said.
Westpac led the banks with a gain of 1.7 per cent, while Macquarie Group added 1.6 per cent, Commonwealth Bank was up 1.4 per cent, ANZ gained 0.8 per cent and National Australia Bank rose by 0.6 per cent.
“There’s been no single driver behind the rally, other than shares fell 3.5 per cent last month, recording the markets worst performance since January 2016, so we’re halfway to making up those losses,” Mr Daghlian said.
CSL pushed the healthcare sector higher following Tuesday’s announcement the plasma and vaccine products supplier had acquired a boutique Chinese plasma biotech, gaining 3.2 per cent.
As the Ten Network appointed administrators, and the federal government urged Labor to support planned media reforms, Nine Entertainment gained 6.2 per cent and Seven West Media gained 5.3 per cent.
The Australian dollar was exposed to some slight volatility around lunchtime according to Commsec, though the release of economic data out of China did not detract from earlier gains, ahead of a widely expected US federal Reserve lift in interest rates on Thursday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 61.1 points, or 1.06 per cent, at 5,833.9 points
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 60.4 points, or 1.04 per cent, at 5862.2 points.
* The June SPI200 futures contract was up 54 points, or 0.93 per cent, at 5836 points.
* National turnover was 2.7 billion securities traded worth $8 billion.
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEST was $US1,268.31 per fine ounce, up $US1.98 from $US1,266.33 per fine ounce on Tuesday
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEST:
CURRENCY ASK BID PREVIOUS
AUD/USD 0.756 0.7556 0.7535
AUD/JPY 83.22 83.15 82.92
AUD/EUR 0.6739 0.6733 0.672
AUD/NZD 1.0449 1.0438 1.0432
AUD/GBP 0.5913 0.5909 0.5907
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEST:
* CGS 4.50 per cent April 2020, 1.7162pct, from 1.7031pct on Tuesday
* CGS 4.75pct April 2027, 2.4028pct, from 2.4004pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* June 2017 10-year bond futures contract at 97.57 (implying a yield of 2.43 pct), unchanged from Tuesday
* June 2017 3-year bond futures contract at 98.235 (1.765pct), from 98.23 (1.77pct).
(*Currency closes taken at 1700 AEST previous local session, bond market closes taken at 1630 AEST previous local session)
