Add Category
Updated
The local share market has finishing trading sharply higher, after local bargain hunters took their lead from the Dow Jones' record 1,086-point rebound.
Australia's benchmark index, the ASX 200, jumped 1.9 per cent to 5,597 amid a light post-Christmas trading session.
The broader All Ordinaries index lifted by a similar level to 5,662 points.
Since January, the local bourse has fallen steeply by about 7.5 per cent, in line with New York's benchmark S&P 500 index.
However, it is still performing better than London's FTSE (-13pc), Tokyo's Nikkei (-11pc) and the Shanghai Composite (-24.5pc).
European and Asian markets have been buffeted by Brexit uncertainty, fears of slowing global economic growth and anxiety over the unresolved US-China trade war.
The Australian dollar has retreated slightly to 70.54 US cents.
Best and worst performers
Ausdrill (+7.4pc), Bellamy's (+6.5pc), Afterpay (+6.1pc) and James Hardie (+4.8pc) were among the stocks which posted the largest gains.
A rebound in the big four banks — Commonwealth Bank (+2.4pc), NAB (+1.9pc), Westpac (+1.4pc) and ANZ (+1.5pc) — drove the broader market higher.
Woodside Petroleum (+4.2pc), Santos (+2.7pc) and Origin Energy (+4.4pc) were among the best performers.
It follows a strong recovery in oil prices overnight, as Brent crude soared 8.7 per cent to $US54.86 per barrel — its strongest daily gain in more than two years.
Every sector was trading higher, with energy (+3.2pc), utilities (+2.2pc) and health care (+2.9pc) leading the gains.
The other big-name stocks lifting the market include AMP (+3.7pc), BHP (+1.9pc) and Wesfarmers (+2.1pc).
Nine out of every 10 stocks in the benchmark index closed higher.
Fed chairman is '100 per cent' safe
The Australian market is heavily influenced by sentiment in larger overseas markets, particularly Wall Street.
It has been an extremely volatile time for the US market — which is facing its worst December performance since the Great Depression in 1931.
Earlier this week, the New York stock exchange recorded its worst-ever Christmas Eve plunge, following reports that US President Donald Trump had considered firing Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.
However, bargain hunters spotted an opportunity to buy at the dip overnight which led to the Dow jumping 5 per cent, its biggest rebound in a decade.
It also helped that the White House economic adviser tried to reassure the market that Mr Powell was in no danger of getting fired, as his job was "100 per cent" safe.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, markets, stockmarket, currency, australia
First posted