Although the market got off to a slow start today as investors awaited further information on the Greek debt crisis, it has since risen steadily to complement yesterday's strong gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has risen just over 0.3% which was enough to see it breach the 5700 point mark for the first time in nearly a month, while the broader ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) also rose 0.3%.
Investors continued to pile their cash back into the banks, whose prices remain considerably below their levels recorded in March and April this year. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) jumped 0.8% and 0.6% respectively, while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) gained more than 1% each.
A number of other blue-chip stocks also provided some support, including Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) and CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), which both rose 0.6%, as well as QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) and Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), up 1.7% and 0.9% respectively.
Although Australian shares have recovered some of their value over the last fortnight after falling to a low of 5453 points, investors should still look to take advantage of some of the significant discounts that are currently on offer. While I would still suggest steering clear of some of the market's big-name stocks, including the Big Four banks and Telstra, I believe there are some great opportunities at the smaller end of the market.
